


illuminate

by silverif



Category: Pocket Monsters: Sun & Moon | Pokemon Sun & Moon Versions
Genre: All The Ships, Bitterness, Female Protagonist, Gritty, Multi, Nuzlocke Challenge, POV First Person, Pokemon Death, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-09
Updated: 2018-06-14
Packaged: 2018-12-10 20:11:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 33
Words: 109,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11699076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silverif/pseuds/silverif
Summary: Kaia Stirling is, by all accounts, a genius. Daughter of a league champion and a famous zoologist, it is clear that she is destined for great things. But Kaia isn't happy -- a deadbeat dad, an overwored mom, an annoying stepdad, and no friends to speak of, Kaia laments spending the summer before her freshman year of university in the tropical region of Alola.So when she's granted the opportunity to participate in the Alolan Summer Island Challenge, she leaps on the opportunity to alleviate some of the boredom she's been crippled with. But odd things are afoot, least of all her sudden ability to speak to pokemon, and it's clear that this will be no ordinary summer. Kaia and her new friends soon find themselves headfirst in a fight for their lives against strange creatures who seem fully capable of destroying the Alola region and everything Kaia has worked for.So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing.





	1. one: little girl, strumming her guitar

_if there's a meaning can you show me a sign  
_ _the more i look it just gets harder to find_

 

Alola was a realm of contradictions - a close-knit community but separated by miles of ocean. A trainer’s paradise, but with no gym circuit. My birthplace, but not my home. Even from the moment I left the airport terminal, I wasn’t sure how I was _supposed_ to feel about it all. It’s a beautiful region, don’t get me wrong, but being forced out of my home to come live with my aunt and uncle wasn’t exactly my dream vacation. Still, sitting outside now, the light of the moon cool on my face… it wasn’t all bad. Besides, it gave me time to practice.

My pick hit the strings, and I cringed as an out-of-tune _twang_ cascaded across the yard. Boy, did I ever need the practice. I mean, for the love of the Tapus, I graduated with a 4.0 GPA, but I couldn’t play four measly notes on a stupid guitar? Granted, having a high GPA didn’t exactly make someone magically good with instruments, but still. This was sad.

“Geez, that was sad, Kaia.”

I tensed up as a douchey, obnoxious voice interrupted my alone time. Surprise surprise, that voice was attached to an equally douchey body, who plopped himself down next to me. Nathan Dyndale: local slacker who somehow managed to look like the lead singer of a boy band _and_ a typical stoner. His short, blonde hair and tan skin probably made him popular with the girls around here, but the fucking lame-ass grin he constantly had plastered on his mug ruined it. Unfortunately for me, he was one of my aunt’s sons, meaning we were bonded. By blood. Unfortunately.

“Shut it,” I said, tweaking the tuners on the guitar, trying not to crush the neck in frustration, “it’s called being out of tune, and it happens to everyone.”

“Do you even know how to tune a guitar?” he asked, leaning back in the wooden deck chair he had planted his ass in.

“Shut up.”

He chuckled, before watching me struggle with it for a while longer. I was caught between a rock and a hard place: either give up and admit defeat or keep pretending I knew what I was doing. Eventually, he gave me an out, yawning. “Whatever, loser. Ma wanted me to tell you that there’s someone here to see you.”

I furrowed my brow, breathing a small sigh of relief as I set the guitar down beside me. That was enough embarrassing myself for one day. “Did she say who it is?”

“I dunno, she just said it was for you.” He looked to me, and I saw him glance between me and the door that led inside. Oh no. I opened my mouth to protest, but he went ahead with it anyway. “Probably… Professor Cock-ui?” I groaned (for a multitude of reasons), but Nate got what he was looking for, pushing himself from the chair with a snort. “Alright, see you later, loser.”

It was only when I heard the glass doors close that I felt comfortable enough to let out the breath I had been unconsciously holding in. Professor Kukui, here to visit little old me? Or as he would rather I call him, _Lio_. I shuddered at the thought. At least with the name Kukui, I could maintain some sense of distance. Still, I knew that I would get an earful from Mum if she found out I was mouthing off the guy. Again. I picked up the guitar that sat beside me, inhaling and exhaling audibly.

I could maintain my composure for a few minutes.

 

* * *

 

Aunt Fiora’s house was both grandiose and quaint at the same time. Her husband, David, was a pro surfer back in his youth, so they had a bit of money to splurge on extravagances, and the sheer size of the beachfront bungalow was the evidence of that. Still, there was a certain cosiness to place. Hand-scribbled drawings plastered on the walls; modern and pristine on the inside, but traditional and incorporated into the environment on the outside; plants of all shapes and sizes lining the hallways, carefully tended to by the head of the house herself. It was only a single story not including the basement, which Nathan and his younger brother Ethan shared as a bedroom, but the layout was sprawling.

I must have looked like a fucking mess when I walked into the kitchen, as Kukui choked on the glass of water in his hand when he saw me. He and Fiora were seated at the bar together, seemingly in the middle of some heated discussion about some upcoming festival or something. They both stopped when they noticed me, glancing at each other nervously. I rolled my eyes, moving towards the kitchen sink to grab a drink myself.

Kukui had been one of my mom’s friends back in grade school, back when she lived in Alola, apparently. They both ended up going to the same university, Hau’oli U, but apparently, they fell out of touch after that. Of course, like something out of some dumb romantic comedy, they reconnected at a conference a few years ago. Of course, immediately after Dad disappeared, Kukui jumped on the opportunity like a fucking shinx. A year and a half later, they’re married, and we’re moving to Alola because why not, right? It’s not like we have a ton of fucking memories in Viridian that we’re leaving behind just because Dad left for a bit, right?

When my back was turned, Kukui spoke up after a moment of silence. “Um… Alola, Kaia!” When I didn’t respond, he coughed again and continued. “You look very, um, nice this evening.”

“Ha ha.” I turned to face him, running a hand through my dishevelled hair. It wasn’t like he was one to talk, anyway: the guy’s fashion sense consisted of sweatshorts and an open lab coat with no shirt underneath. Of course, from what I had seen, that was fairly typical of Alola - show your skin to absurd levels because, why not, right? I rolled my eyes, taking a sip of water, before speaking again. “What do you want, Kukui?”

Kukui looked to Fiora in desperation, who simply shrugged. “Kaia, wouldn’t it be more appropriate to call me Lio? I mean, we are family after all, and it’s not like I’m asking you to call me Dad or anyth—“

“What,” I interrupted, “would you prefer ‘Daddy’?”

The immediate spit-take was all I could really ask for. What followed was a good minute of Kukui stuttering out an apology to Aunt Fiora, her telling him that it was fine while simultaneously giving me a death glare, and her leaving to grab a towel and new clothes for herself, considering she was in the splash zone. I took a seat at the table a few feet away from the bar, while Kukui fidgeted with his hands, clearly trying to build the courage back up for something. After a solid few seconds of silence, he spoke again.

“So, Kaia…” He spun in his chair to face me, stupid grin back on his face. “How are you liking Melemele so far? I know it isn’t quite as impressive as Akala, but…”

“It’s fine,” I said, voice grumbly as I took a sip of my drink. “Pretty boring.”

He scratched his stubble-beard. “Yeah, well, that’s… that’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about. Fiora mentioned that you’ve been kinda… aimless since you got here.”

I shrugged. “So? It’s summer vacation. I’m supposed to be aimless.” It’s not like I was about to go off to university to pursue zoology or anything. “I don’t see how I could be the major problem here when Nate’s a year older than me and he’s not even going to university.”

“Well,” he said, twiddling his thumbs, “I’m not in charge of what Fiora does with her own kids. But both me and your mom, well, we’re worried about you. You’ve seemed kinda…”

“Depressed?”

“Yes!” He grinned, sitting taller.

“Wow, well, what a revelation,” I replied, doing my best not to start blatantly laughing at him. I’ve been like this for years, and only now they’re noticing? Alright. “So?”

“Well, I was talking with my good friend, Kahuna Hala,” he said, standing from his seat, “and we were thinking… it would be kinda fun if you received your own pokemon, huh?”

I blinked. “Are you joking?”

He shook his head, grin growing wider. “Of course not! That would be something you’re interested in, yeah?”

See, this was the problem with Kukui - he always spoke like he knew what he was talking about, but he knew jack shit. I have been asking for a pokemon since I was four years old, begging and pleading on my knees at times. Of course, Dad ran out before I could get my trainer license and Mum had a strict ban on pokemon for whatever reason, and even then, I got my license just in case. So yes, it was something _I would be interested in_. And yet still, he was sitting there, grinning at me like it was a real fucking question.

“Yeah,” I replied after a moment, “it would. But you do know that Mum has a super strict ‘no pokemon’ policy?”

He chuckled, standing from his seat. “We had a discussion on it, but I think it’s important for a kid to go on a journey, especially before you run off to university. It’s like…” he thought for a moment, placing the cup beside him, “like, coming-of-age thing. Even if you end up failing, you’ll still have grown as a person. Hell, even I went on a pokemon journey when I was your age!”

Huh. Still couldn’t say I like the guy, but I wasn’t going to complain about receiving a pokemon. “Alright… so are we just gonna go out and catch one, or…?”

Shaking his head, he began to move towards the door. “Nope, better! Like I said, Kahuna Hala seemed to have a vested interest in giving you a pokemon. So he agreed to give you a starter.”

I blinked again, as the words processed themselves in my mind. “Like, a starter? A real fucking starter?”

“Kaia!” Fiora exclaimed, having returned in a new shirt, just in time to hear me swear, “language!”

“Sorry.” I slid out from my seat at the table, running my hand through my hair. “So, um… are we going right now?”

Kukui smiled. “If you’re ready.”

I bit my fingernail. I wasn’t ready to meet the Kahuna of the freaking island dressed like a slob, let alone my first pokemon. “Um… will you give me like... two minutes?”

Without waiting for an answer, I rushed past Aunt Fiora towards my room.

 

* * *

 

I slammed the door shut, taking in the view of the guest room, AKA my living quarters. The duvet was tossed callously from the bed, askew on the ground and collecting dust. The room had a very… lived-in feel, despite me spending a total of two fucking days here. Arceus, I am a mess.

I quickly rushed to my suitcase, rummaging through it. Boon of Alola: don’t need a jacket, even during the nights. Con of Alola: ninety percent of my clothes were unusable because it’s so fucking hot here. I found a pair of jean shorts that looked fairly clean, alongside a clean black tank. This would work. It wasn’t anything special, but it looked better than the sweatpants and t-shirt combo I had going on right now. I changed, grumbling about two minutes and Kukui as I did.

I quickly checked myself in the mirror afterwards, letting out a shaky breath. The shirt was dirty and the shorts were ratty but whatever, I could make it work. I ran my hand through my messy hair again. Fuck, I didn’t have the time to brush it. Instead, I tossed it into a ponytail, pulling a black baseball cap over top. Not the most traditional look but whatever, it worked. I liked to call it “lazy chic”.

As I finished with my hair, I took note of a white bracelet sitting on the desk. Dad’s bracelet. He had left it behind on the day he disappeared… It only felt right to wear it when I got my first pokemon. I picked it up, feeling the cool metal, heavy in my hands. It had strange carvings across the entire band, and where a watch’s face would typically be, there was a strange indent. Dad had never explained what the bracelet was actually for. Whenever I would ask, he just laughed it off like it wasn’t a real question. Still, it would be… nice. To wear it. He would have liked me to wear it, I think.

I had originally bought a bag for the express purpose of going on a pokemon journey but… I never really got to use it. It was still sitting in a box in Mum’s lab in Heahea, unused. Whatever, if I had to settle for my school bag, that was fine. I could always go pick up the bag later.

“Alright,” I spoke to no one in particular. It just felt good to shatter the overbearing silence every now and then. “Let’s do this.”

 

* * *

 

I breathed a sigh of relief as I stepped into the cool night air once more. Well, ‘cool’. Compared to Viridian, this was nothing.

Still, Alola had a unique charm to it, I would give it that. The pikipeks chirping, the rattatas (the alolan variant. I had heard that the variants existed, but seeing one in person was a bit of a trip) leaving their shelters to scavenge for food, the sound of bugs making their homes for the evening. The sun had only just set half an hour ago, so the strange transition between night and day was still in full effect.

I must have had a stupid look on my face or something because I caught Kukui grinning at me out of the corner of my eye. My frown returned, and I stepped from the patio in frustration. Who did he think he was? It was only when I made my way to the main road that I realized I had absolutely no idea where I was going. Did he mean to meet Hala in Hau’oli? Or perhaps Iki Town?

The lights of the city were visible in the distance, the skyscrapers and sprawling streets standing in contrast to the sprawling verdant hills around it. It was supposedly the biggest city in the region, and I believed it. Even the harbour seemed to stretch out into the ocean for miles upon miles. Still, it wasn’t nearly as big as like, Saffron or Goldenrod.

I could feel Kukui approaching from behind me, and out of panic began walking towards Hau’oli. At first, I thought I had chosen correctly, but…

“Kaia!” Kukui called from behind me, and I stopped in my tracks. “We’re headed up towards Iki. Come on, he’ll be waiting!”

Embarrassed, I turned and followed him. I could feel my face burning, despite my attempts to ignore it. He blazed ahead up the trail, a hilly dirt path with trees surrounding it on all sides. Flora of various shapes and sizes lurked within the treeline, colourful and bright and… fun. Despite my issues with the region, even I couldn’t deny that it was very pretty. When Kukui noticed I was trailing behind, he slowed and caught pace beside me.

“Kaia, look. I’m sorry, alright?” He said, despite my attempts to ignore him, “I understand you're frustrated your dad left, but—“

"I don't want to talk about this right now." My desperation betrayed the intended coolness of the response. "I just want to get a pokemon."

"... Fine." He sounded hurt, and I didn't really blame him.

The walk that followed was tense and awkward. It was a good ten minutes of silence until we arrived in Iki Town, with me sulking and Kukui probably having given up trying to talk with me.

Iki Town was the complete antithesis of Hau’oli. It almost seemed like a divine contradiction to have them exist in such close proximity to each other. Where Hau’oli was sprawling and overbearing, the town was quaint and condensed. Where Iki had a very traditional vibe to it, wooden houses and decorations dotted along the main street (which itself was made from cobblestone, as opposed to the city’s pavement), Hau’oli had its gigantic skyscrapers and modern designs plain to see.

“Woah,” I murmured, noting the torches that lined the edges of the street.

“Pretty cool, huh?” Kukui had seemingly returned to his peppy, over-the-top demeanour (may the silence rest in peace), and he nudged me hard in the ribs. “According to Iki tradition, the townsfolk light the torches each evening, and the Tape ensures that they stay lit throughout the entire night.”

“Really?” I asked, eyebrows raising up. “You would think the Tapu would have better things to do.”

“Ha!” He nudged me again, before walking past me towards the town centre. “You crack me up sometimes, Kaia.”

“I wasn’t being funny,” I murmured but decided to drop it. Civil. I was trying to be civil.

I quickly shuffled behind him, keeping my head down. I caught a few funny glances from people who apparently hadn’t heard about Kukui’s stepdaughter moving in, and I could imagine that in such a tight-knit community, a newcomer was a strange experience. Whatever. We arrived at the town centre, a large open plaza with various shops and stands set up along the outside. While most were closed due to the timing of it all, I imagined that they sold local fruits and delicacies - it was almost nice, how independent the town was. In the middle of the town centre, there was a large wooden stage of some kind, painted with various traditional alolan markings. I was somewhat curious as to what it was for but didn’t really feel like asking.

Kukui stopped suddenly, scrunching his face. “Huh.”

“Huh?”

He shook his head. “It’s nothing, it’s just… Hala was supposed to meet us here.” He bit the inside of his lip, crossing his arms. After a moment, he snapped his fingers, turning to me. “He must be waiting in the lodge.” He pointed to the large building a distance away. From context, I assumed it was similar to a city hall. “Hala was fairly adamant about the ceremony happening here. Mind waiting for a minute?” He didn’t wait for a response, instead taking a stride off towards the lodge.

“Whatev— oh, you’re gone.”

I stood to myself awkwardly for a few minutes, patiently even, before getting slightly frustrated. Eventually, I took a seat on a small bench nearby, trying to relax. I was about to receive a pokemon. I was civil. I was calm. I _deserved_ a pokemon. Oh shit. I’m getting a pokemon. I hadn’t even thought about anything beyond that. Which pokemon I would pick, what I would name it… What I would do with it.

As I was mulling this over to myself, something caught my attention. A girl, dressed entirely in an intricately-woven white dress and a floppy white hat, was lurking near the edge of town. At that particular edge of the town, there was a small path that led into the forest that lurked behind the town. She was pacing back and forth, shuffling the large grey duffle bag that hung around her shoulders. After a moment, I saw her duck into the forest, white disappearing into green.

Well, that wasn’t suspicious.

 

* * *

 

Out of idle curiosity… and also a fairly transparent desire to disobey Kukui’s request to stay put, I decided that following the girl would be the best course of action. Best case scenario, she was a tourist who had gotten a little lost, worse case, she was up to no good and I could be a hero. Win-win, really.

As I stepped into the dense underbrush of the jungle, I felt the sweltering heat overtake me. While the open air surrounding Route 1 allowed the heat to disperse mostly, the jungle canopy trapped the heat inside, making it the equivalent of walking into a sauna fully-clothed. I swatted around in the greenery for a bit, searching for some sort of path or something that would give me an idea of where to go. Finally, I found a small trail that led up the nearby slope, and I stepped out onto the path with my ankles all cut up.

“Fun,” I murmured, rolling my eyes as I marched on. Too hot to wear pants, so of course, my ankles would get up. Fucking Alola.

I continued marching up the trail for a good few minutes, grumbling about the scratches the entire way. The path zigzagged, first to the left, then to the right, and I was slowly rising above the canopy. Eventually, as I reached the top, heat of the jungle now was now dissipating. I overlooked Iki Town. It looked… so small, from up here. The glow of the torchlight cast a strange mood over the town. Hau’oli City and its lights shined in the distance, unnatural and eye-catching in the night. It was as though I were looking at two different worlds - a glimpse into the past, and a glimpse into the future. The wind blew me backwards, as though beckoning me to continue on. After a final, forlorn glance, I turned and moved on.

The trail continued for a bit, though it was much easier now that it was flat. You’d be surprised to learn I was on the track team in high school, considering how much I struggled up that mountain. After walking for a while, I caught the distinct sound of water rushing, slowly growing louder and louder. And then, a scream. I started running.

The path opened up, revealing a large ravine, dividing the mountain in half. Across the large ravine, I could see a set of strange ruins, with the only way to cross is a rickety plank bridge. Standing in front of the bridge was the girl in white, and she was quivering in panic. She noticed me, eyes sparkling with recognition, and she rushed towards me, gripping my shoulder.

“Please! You need to help me!”

I blinked. “What?”

She pointed to the bridge. “Nebby! My… pokemon! She’s…” Looking past her, I noticed a host of spearow swarming around a certain section of the bridge. Had this girl brought like, a caterpie up here or something? Either way, I felt her shake me again. “Please, help her!”

“Why can’t you do it?” I asked, wincing at my harsh tone.

This seemed to only create more panic in her. “I can’t! I… I don’t like heights, much…” I sighed. Fuck me.

Pushing past her, I approached the plank bridge, which was swaying unceasingly. I caught sight of the river flowing below, and felt sick to my stomach. I didn’t really blame the girl for being scared of this, I didn’t mind heights and this was fucking me up. Still, I heard her let out a whimper as I paused, and steeled myself.

_“Just look forward.”_

As soon as I stepped onto the bridge, it creaked angrily, inspiring very little faith in me. I heard the screeching of the spearow, and the desperate cry of [I]something[/I], but it wasn’t a call I recognized. Maybe some weird Alolan pokemon that I hadn’t bothered to research?

_“Be brave, child.”_

Another step.

_”Show me what you’re made of.”_

I felt a surge of confidence. At first, my stepping was slow, cautious, but I began to pick up steam, shuffling across the planks rapidly. Soon, I reached the host, swatting them away. “Get out of here, you fucking birds!” A couple gave me a few pecks on the arm in frustration, before flying off. “Yeah, you better fuck off!” I chuckled, feeling a surge of pride.

I looked down towards ‘Nebby’, frowning in confusion. It was a small pokemon, one that I didn’t recognize at first glance. It resembled a small cloud, glowing purple and blue, with two ‘pigtails’ of gas rising above it. Its face was black, with two small eyes and a mouth, which was formed in a frown. I reached down, trying to calm it down.

The bridge snapped.

 

* * *

 

My eyes flew open a few moments later, starting awake. I groaned as I sat up, back aching from the ground. Wait…. Ground!

I looked around, noticing that I had somehow found myself back on the edge of the gorge, with the girl in the white dress checking up on the gaseous pokemon nearby. She must have heard me wake up, as she turned around, a relieved smile etched on her mug.

“Oh, thank Arceus!” She exclaimed, scrambling over to me. She grabbed my arm, helping me to my feet. “I’m glad to see you’re okay, Kaia! I was worried that you’d get hurt, or worse!”

I had a splitting headache. “I… Yeah, I’m good. Wait…” I looked at her for a moment. “How do you know my name?”

She chuckled, her relief apparent. She stuck out her hand, a small smile playing across her face. “I’m Lillie. Nice to meet you! I work as an assistant to your dad.”

I blinked. Dad had an assistant? Oh. Wait. “Yeah… stepdad,” I corrected, before taking her hand and shaking it. “He’s my stepdad.”

“Right.” She bit her lip. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine.” It wasn’t, but whatever. I could get over it. I looked back at the gorge, where the bridge was now split, useless. “How… did I survive that? It seemed like… I fell?”

She shook her head. “I have no clue. In honesty, when I heard the bridge snap, I closed my eyes in fear.” She sighed, scuffing her shoe against the dirt of the trail. “And then, when I opened them… the two of you were back here.”

“Right…” I looked at the pokemon, now tucked safely in her arms. “That reminds me… what kind of pokemon is that, if you don’t mind me asking? I’ve never seen anything like… you called it ‘Nebby’, right? I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

“Her,” she corrected, before continuing. “And if you don’t mind, I’d really prefer not to talk about it.” She tipped her hat. “Sorry.”

I shrugged. “Whatever.” The desire to know was burning me from the inside, but I decided to play it cool. “Are you going back to Iki Town? We could, like… walk together, if you want.”

For a moment, Lillie’s eyes were turned to the ruins in the distance. I noted the frown on her face, and I was considering asking why she even bothered coming all the way up here, but it didn’t feel worth it. Considering she didn’t want to share the species of her pokemon, I doubted she’d be more inclined to give her motivation for this little walk. After a moment, she sighed, before nodding. “Sure.”

 

* * *

 

Lillie and I arrived back in Iki Town to find Kukui, frantic. He was talking to a heavyset older man, shifting back and forth on his feet frantically. He didn’t notice either of us, instead choosing fidget in frustration. We approached, catching pieces of their conversation. The larger man had a hand on Kukui’s shoulder.

“Relax, Lio,” he grumbled, “I’m sure she just went for a walk or something of that nature.”

“I asked her to stay put!” Kukui returned, voice reaching a new octave. “Julia is gonna kill me…”

As fun as it was to watch him panic, I cleared my throat, causing him to whirl around. Instantly, a look of relief crossed his face, and he wrapped me in a big hug. Instantly, I lost my cool, struggling against him. “Kaia, thank Arceus!” He pulled away as I shoved him off. “Where did you go, I asked you to stay put, you could have…” He stopped as he noticed Lillie beside me, glancing at the two of us. The girl had put ‘Nebby’ back into her grey duffle bag, as opposed to a pokeball for whatever reason. “Lillie?”

“I noticed Lillie heading up the trail,” I replied, still brushing Kukui sweat from me. “Figured I’d make sure she was alright.”

“Ah.” Kukui and Lillie exchanged a look, one that I couldn’t read. “Lillie, we’ll have to have a chat about this later.”

“R-right,” the girl replied, tipping her hat to cover her eyes. “Sorry, professor.”

After a few moments of awkward, tense silence, the older man coughed, drawing attention to him. “Greetings, Miss Stirling!” He exclaimed, extending a hand. “My name is Hala Reyes, and I’m the Kahuna of Melemele Island!”

Nervously, I took his hand. “Nice to meet you, Kahuna Hala. My name is Kaia.” After a moment, I sighed. “I… kinda broke your bridge.”

He blinked, before heaving a fit of laughter. “That was bound to happen eventually, don’t you worry about it. I’ve been meaning to fix it for a while. I’m just glad that you’re safe!” He squinted at me, scratching his large, grey moustache. “Although I am curious as to how you broke it without falling into the ravine…”

I shrugged. “Me too.”

Hala chuckled. “Well, no matter! It’s getting quite late, so if we’re gonna do this, we should do it soon.” Reaching into his pocket, he produced three pokeballs, before moving to the central platform nearby. Lillie, Kukui and I followed, and I felt my heart begin to race. It was time! I’d be getting a _starter_! Soon enough, he released the three pokemon from their pokeballs.

The first that caught my attention was the creature in the centre. A small, catlike creature with dark fur and dark red markings, its yellow eyes glaring at me. A litten! Not my favourite pokemon in the world, but not bad. They were known to be pretty temperamental and required a trainer with a good heart to knock off some of those bad habits. Somehow, I figured that wasn’t gonna be me.

To the left of the litten was a fluffy, green brown bird. It had an ovular face with a large beak, two black eyes on either side. It tilted its head as it looked at me, eyes unblinking. This was a rowlet. I had a relative fondness for the species - Dad had a decidueye named Oliver who I loved growing up - but I didn’t really want to copy him by picking it.

Instead, my eyes drifted to the third and final starter. A small, seal-like creature with a long snout, bulbous nose, and a collar around its neck, causing it to resemble a clown of some sort. It let out a small bork as it saw us. Popplio! They were native to Melemele Island, a small colony of them living in the cove on the other side of the island, so I have never actually seen one up close.

After a moment, I smiled. “I’ll take the popplio, please!”

Hala nodded. “Very well!” He handed me the pokeball, alongside a small blade of some sort. “Go on, then! Give her a name!”

It was a girl, huh? I approached, heart pounding, as Hala retrieved the other two starters. “Hi, girl!” I waved, and she borked back. I picked her up gingerly, feeling her smooth fur. “I guess I have to give you a name, huh?” I looked towards the sky, noting the dark blue hue. Similar to the coat of a popplio. The word came to me in an instant, as though it had been patiently waiting for me to speak it my entire life. “How about… Lani?” I etched the name into the pokeball, so incredibly pleased with myself.

“Nice to meet you!” Lani clicked in my arms, snout nuzzling into the crook of my elbow. 

“Nice to meet you too!” I replied. 

Wait.


	2. two: home isn't home

_and i dare you to survive_  
_being grown for the rest of your life_  
_from adulthood, no one survives_

 

I like to consider myself a fairly calm person. Not much can really throw me, from what I’ve seen. Like… Jackie Lowell winning last year’s Kanto Conference? Sure, it was a little surprising, but she was an underdog from day one, and she put the work in, in spite of what the internet will tell you.

Finding out that pokemon could speak, however, was a whole different ballpark. Lani hadn’t stopped speaking ever since those first words, in spite of me saying nothing the entire walk home. I was just… completely stunned. Had my years of sarcasm and eye-rolling finally driven me insane?

Probably.

“…and so I told him, ‘listen, Litten, you need to stop stressing me out, y’know?’ He just wouldn’t shut up about getting a good trainer and being the strongest pokemon in the trial challenge and blah blah blah, meanwhile I was just like, anyone is good, y’know?” The popplio, still nestled in my arms, stuck her nose up to face me. “Do you know, Kaia?” After a few moments with no response, she nodded. “Yeeeeah, you know.”

I ignored her, mind still racing a mile a minute. My feet creaked up onto the old wooden porch of Aunt Fiora and Uncle David’s house, and I whipped the screen door open to the smell of stew brewing on the stove, filling the entire home with a warm, pleasant smell.

“Wow, something smells delicious!” Lani squeaked from my arms, wiggling to get a better view of the new environment. “Is that your mum, Kaia? She’s beautiful!”

“Oh, Kaia!” Fiora turned from her stew, giving me a wave. “Welcome home. I’m just finishing up supper now, so it should be ready any minute!” Seeing the popplio in my arms, her smile widened. “And who is this?” She approached, reaching an hand out to give Lani a pet on the head.

“Lani, ma’am! I’m Kaia’s new partner!” The pokemon rubbed her nuzzle on Fiora’s arm, living for the attention. “It’s nice to meetcha!”

I scanned Fiora’s face, eyes darting back and forth for any kind of reaction, but if she heard Lani’s words, she didn’t react to them. “Lani,” I replied, shoulders slumping. “My new partner.”

“Nice to meet you too, Lani.” She giggled as Lani’s wet nose rubbed up against her elbow. Her attention eventually turned to me again. “Why don’t you go relax before dinner sweetie? You look like you’ve had a rough go of it.”

I chuckled. “You have no idea.”

Dragging Lani away from the unceasing attention of Fiora, much to the disappointment of both of them, I quickly ascended the staircase towards my — the guest bedroom. Once there, I dropped Lani down on the bed (which was still in disarray from me laying in it only a few hours ago), where she bounced slightly, squeaking with joy. Eventually, she settled in beneath the blankets, cooing as she laid her head down. I made my way to the desk, flipping open my laptop, which had been gifted to me lovingly from my father.

“Y’know, Kaia,” said Lani, her voice muffled by the sheets, “it’s kinda weird that you can talk to me. I’ve never met any human who could understand what I was saying.” She peaked her head out from underneath the covers with a giggle. “Not that I mind!”

“Yeah, it’s not exactly normal, Lani,” I replied, fingers already clacking on the keyboard. Surely this wasn’t a solo occurrence — somewhere on the internet, someone had to have an experience with talking to pokemon. Either that or I was going insane, which was… not ideal.

Despite my vigorous searching, however, nothing I could find yielded any results. The best I could find was some hoax on the internet with a guy who claimed that he could talk to pokemon, but according to the rest of the thread, he was a fraud cheating people out of money. So that was less than ideal. Of course, after all those searches with every combination of words I could think of, I began to get targeted ads, offering apps that claimed they could translate pokemon speech.

Of course, I wasn’t that stupid.

“What the fuck are you looking up?” I slammed my computer shut, whipping around to come face to face with the Ultima Douchebag himself, Nathan Dyndale. He was staring down at me, perplexed expression on his face. “Talking pokemon? What are you, an idiot?”

“Get the fuck out of my room, you dick!” I stood from my chair, shoving him towards the door. “At least fucking knock!”

“Whatever, weirdo.” He turned, stepping with my pushes. “It’s time to eat.”

“Hi, I’m Lani!” The popplio squeed as I shoved the last of him from my room. “It was nice to meet you!”

I sighed, slumping down on my bed. Soon, I found myself with a pillow in my face, muffling the scream echoing from me. After an awkwardly long time of this, Lani’s wet nose rubbed against my cheek, bringing me back to my senses. I sat up, turning to face her.

“He said it was suppertime, right?” Her eyes were wide. “Are we going to go eat?”

With another sigh, I stood, picking her up. “Yeah, yeah. Let’s hurry before the stew gets cold.”

“Yay!”

 

 

* * *

 

With sullen steps, I slinked slowly down the staircase, making my way towards the source of that delicious ambient smell. As I stepped into the kitchen-living-dining room, I was greeted with the smiling faces of Fiora, David, as well as their youngest son Ethan. Nate, of course, gave me a scowl from his seat at the table, which prompted an eye-roll from me. Nate’s arcanine, Lucky, one of the few pokemon he kept on-hand from his pokemon journey, was already chowing down on his food over near the kitchen counter.

“Kaia!” David gave me a wave, patting the seat to his left. “So glad to have you join us.”

I scratched my head, averting my gaze. I hadn’t actually sat down for a meal with the family yet — it was easier to just eat in the guest room. Smile awkwardly splayed on my face, I nodded. “Glad to be here.”

“Oh, Kaia dear, you can just leave your friend on the floor,” said Fiora, voice lilting, “I’ve poured her some stew over this way.” Standing up from her kneel on the floor, she rested a hand on Lucky. “She’ll have to share with Lucky for now, but I’ll be sure to grab her a good bow the next time I go to the store.”

“Stew!” Lani exclaimed, eyes darting up towards mine as I set her on the floor. “I love stew!” She paused, looking at the food dish. “Or, at least I think I do! I’ve never had it!”

“Whatever, kid,” an unidentified voice grumbled, and I staggered back as I realized that the sound came from Lucky, as he stared her down. “Just stay on your side of the bowl.”

“You got it, Mr. Man!”

“Kaia?” Fiora’s hand on my shoulder brought me back to my senses. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost, darling. Are you alright?”

Shaky, I nodded, stepping away from Lani and taking my place at the table. “Y-yeah, I’m fine. Sorry, just been a long day.”

Soon, we were all poured our stew and munching away. Ethan was to my right, his eyes transfixed on Lani and Lucky eating in the corner. Being only twelve or thirteen, Ethan didn’t have his training license yet, a fact which he lamented each and every day, from what I could tell. If Nate looked like a carbon copy of his father, blonde hair and musculature all present, Ethan very much took after their mother, his tousled brown hair and twinkling blue eyes a near reflection of hers.

“So, Kaia!” Ethan spoke up, mouth filled with stew. “What’s your popplio named?” His voice was garbled from the stew shoved into his gob. “And are you going to do the summer island challenge?”

“Ethan, no talking with your mouth full,” his mother chimed, before taking a bite of her own food. Ethan took a moment to gulp his bite down, before turning to look at me, eyes wide.

“Uh… Lani,” I replied, making eye contact with my stew, “her name’s Lani. And I don’t know about the island challenge.” I hadn’t really thought of it.

“Wow!” His eyes twinkled, I swear to Arceus. “So lucky! I can’t believe Hala chose you to get one of his starting pokemon.” He blinked, before waving his hands in front of me. If there was one thing he took from his father, it was the big hand gestures and manic energy. “Not that I think you’re bad or anything! Just, it’s such a cool opportunity!”

Nate snorted from across the table, and I turned to stare at him, eyebrow raised. “Something to say?”

He shrugged. “I just find it funny that you’re being commended for receiving a handout.”

“Nathan!” Fiora hissed, whipping around to stare him down.

He shrugged. “I’m just saying, it seems to me that gift pokemon are for people who aren’t talented enough to catch things by themselves.” A nasty smirk appeared on his face. “ _Real_ trainers have to bond with their first partner in the wild.”

Seething, I bit my lip, before taking another bite of my stew. When I looked back up, the entire family was staring at me, waiting for a response. I gulped down the stew, before setting my spoon down. “Y’know, Nate, it’s funny that you’d be saying that. At least I didn’t have to get my daddy to go catch my first pokemon for me.” A devious smile made its appearance on my face.

“Oooooh shit!” Ethan stood up. “She torched your ass, Nate!”

“Ethan, language!” Fiora gave him a glare. “That’s your one warning.” Her head whipped to face Nathan again. “And you, stop antagonizing your cousin. How one receives their first pokemon has nothing to do with what kind of trainer they become.”

“I bet Mr. Stirling didn’t need to be gifted his first pokemon,” grumbled Nate, and the entire dinner went deadly cold. My vision grew red for a moment — how dare he, how _fucking_ dare he — but eventually, I settled, lowering my spoon and flashing a fake smile towards Fiora.

“Thank you for the food, Fiora, it was delicious,” I said, standing up. “I think I’m gonna go for a little walk.”

“Oh, Kaia, please don’t—”

I shook my head, raising a hand. “Seriously, it’s all good. I just need to clear my head a little bit.” Clearing my dish, I made my way to the kitchen, where Lani had just finished eating her stew, a contented smile bright on her face. I quickly cleaned my bowl, before placing it in the drying rack.

“Stew is great!”

I chuckled. “Come on, Lani, let’s go for a walk.”

 

* * *

 

I wasn’t sure exactly where I was going once I had gone — the layout of Melemele Island was still rather new to me. I avoided the path up towards Iki Town, instead choosing to follow the path down towards Hau’oli. The big city. The Dyndales lived on the outskirts of town, so it was only a short fifteen minute walk before I began to encounter other buildings and paved roads.

Unlike Iki Town, which seemed to be almost a bastion of Alolan tradition and legacy, Hau’oli City was almost entirely modernized. Tall skyscrapers and buildings made from pure glass touched the night sky, towering symbols of human determination and progress. It was almost whiplash — stepping from the dirt roads that the eastern portion of the island was comprised of on those paved roads, it was like entering a whole other road.

During our walk, Lani hadn’t stopped talking, telling stories of her time with Hala and the other starters, while I hummed along and dropped affirmation every once in a while, not truly paying her any mind. Once we entered the city, however, she went silent, simply taking in the sights along with me.

Soon, we found ourselves at a gas station, still on the outskirts of town. It was one of the few buildings still open so later, bright neon signs a sore thumb night sky.

“What is this place?” Lani’s voice was still quiet, full of awe. “It’s… beautiful.”

I snorted. “Wait till you see the inside.” I fumbled with the change in my pockets. “Want to grab some ice cream or something?”

“Ice cream!?”

“Yeah, I figured.”

With a _ding-dong_ , we entered the gas station, fluorescent lighting straining my eyes. The cashier, a young woman with dead eyes, turned to look at us as we entered, before looking away with an eye roll. Perplexed, I made my way to the back of the store, peeking over at the ice cream freezer.

“What looks good, Lani?”

“Hm…” The popplio peered into the freezer, eyes scanning each label. “Can we get them all?”

As I explained to Lani why I didn’t have the money for that, not the body for it, another _ding-dong_ alerted me to another customer entering the store. Looking up from the freezer, I saw a lumbering figure disappear behind the shelves, tan skin and black hair marking him as a local. Curiosity sated, I turned back to Lani, who was still transfixed by the ice cream.

“Wow, two customers with starter pokemon at the same time?” The cashier murmured, voice flat, tapping on the register. “I’m _so_ lucky.”

Two starters? I looked away from the freezer, peeking around the aisle to see a small, black cat tiptoeing by the feet of the stranger. A litten. The stranger tall. He was wearing basketball shorts and a black, sleeveless shirt. His shirt exposed muscular arms, one of which had strange alolan patterns tattooed on the bicep. Lani let loose a whine as I left the ice cream freezer, approaching the stranger.

He looked up as I approached, and a smile came onto his face as he saw Lani in my hand. “You’re… Kaia, right? Kukui’s daughter?”

“Stepdaughter,” I replied, frowning.

He shook his hands, backpedalling. “Sorry! I knew that, I just…”

“It’s fine.”

We stood in silence for a moment. Lani called out a greeting to the black cat, who simply stared at her with an unreadable expression. After a moment, the dude coughed, before sticking a hand out.

“I’m Hau. Hala’s grandson.” His smile was contagious — I found myself smiling in spite of myself. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Only good things, I hope?”

Silence.

“I’m joking,” I chuckled, and he joined me in laughter, scratching the back of his head. After a few moments of silence, I continued, “So, uh… wanna grab some ice cream?”

[hr]

“So… you’re doing the island challenge?”

I took a lick of my popsicle as I spoke, toes dipping into the cool sea water below. Hau and I had grabbed our ice creams and walked down the street to the nearby beach, and we were now positioned on some rocks overlooking the ocean. The sound of waves crashing in my ears was soothing, as I looked out onto the dark water.

He nodded, taking a bite of his. “Yeah. Most of the people my age did it last year—” we had determined that Hau was just a little over a year older than me, “but… my grandma was really sick at the time, so I held off. Now that she’s…” He paused. “Passed… it feels like it’s time, y’know.” I understood, somewhat. His eyes, warm and brown, met mine. “How about you?”

I shrugged. “I guess I could, but…”

“But what?”

I sighed, toe dipping into the waters once more. “I guess I’m worried about… not being good enough.”

He nudged me with an elbow. “Hey, aren’t you Kaia Stirling, daughter of William Stirling? You have battling in your blood, right?”

I shrugged. “That makes it worse. Everyone expects things out of me and I…”

We were silent — I didn’t need to say it. The wind blew my hair, sending a cool chill down my spine.

“Sorry, do you mind if I speak freely?” He turned to face me, face serious. It was such a juxtaposition from his previous expression, I couldn’t help but be drawn in. “Who cares what anyone else thinks? I know we only just met, but who cares? People look at me all the time, expecting things, and what I’ve figured out is that it’s just easier to let them.” He grabbed my hand, giving it a squeeze. “The only person whose opinion matters is you.”

My heart skipped a beat. And, despite myself, I smiled.

“I guess you’re right.” The words left my mouth almost instinctively. “I suppose I’ll be joining you, then.”

He smiled. That damned smile — contagious. “I can’t wait.”


	3. three: starting the fire

_you're the spark that starts the fire  
_ _tell me, do you feel the same?_

 

“Hey Kaia, we’re leaving!” Fiora’s voice echoed down the hall. “We’ll meet you there, okay?”

I looked up, calling back, “That’s fine! See you there.”

“Bye, sweetheart!”

After my conversation with Hau the previous night, he ended up walking me back to my place. The next morning, I let Kukui know my plans. He was surprised to hear that I wanted to take the Island Challenge, but got right to work on the paperwork — apparently you’re supposed to sign up a bit in advance, not the morning of. Who knew?

Still, he confirmed a few hours later that it had all worked out, and I began my preparations. Fortunately, I’ve known what I wanted to bring on a pokemon journey since I was four years old, so it wasn’t too much of a stretch to get all the supplies together. Pokedex (one of the prototype models, not the commercial ones), pokeballs, and the like.

“Kaiiia,” Lani grumbled, rolling over on my bed and shooting puppy-dog eyes towards me. “When are we gonna go?”

“Just a few more minutes, Lani,” I replied, shoving some notes into my school bag.

Tonight was the Opening Ceremony — one of three taking place across the region — wherein all the kids from Melemele who were taking the Challenge would get to catch their first pokemon, if they didn’t already have one, and do their first battles. It was a tradition, supposedly, and one that the people of Melemele in particular were very passionate about. According to Fiora, they as a family had been attending for as long as she could remember.

Personally, it would be my first.

Finally satisfied with the condition of my bag, I pulled it from the bed and tossed it over my shoulder. Lani’s eyes lit up as she saw this, and she pulled herself from the covers. I barely had time to brace myself before her weight was thrown into my arms, and she gave me a good lick on my face. Closing the door to the guest room behind me, I took a shallow breath.

“So… why didn’t we want to go with your family?” Lani asked, nuzzling her wet nose into my neck in a bid to grab my attention.

“Well, I’m hoping…” I replied, waddling down the stairs, which creaked under my weight. “…to catch another pokemon or two on our way there.”

“What? A new friend?” Lani perked up, big smile on her face. “New friend!”

“Yup,” I said, chuckle caught in my throat. “New friend.”

Soon, we reached the bottom of the stairs, only to come face to face with a glowering arcanine. Lucky. My eyes shifted to the couch, where a certain blob of flesh named Nate had set himself up. He turned his head to me as I entered the living room, yawning as he sat up.

“Arceus, I feel bad for that popplio.” He muttered, grin appearing on his face. “All the pressure of being your only friend, and she can’t even protest.”

“Nate, I’ve heard some of the things you say to Lucky when you’re alone.” I ran my hand through my hair, eyebrow raised. “You don’t have much of a leg to stand on here.”

He shrugged, pulling himself from the couch. Lucky, with one final glare at me, moved to his side as he moved towards the front door.

“You’re going?” I asked, more of a prayer than a question.

He raised an eyebrow. “Yeah. Someone’s gotta make sure you don’t get assaulted by yungoos on your way over.”

I groaned. “Nate, c’mon, I’ll be fine.”

“I’m not convinced you even know what a pokeball is.” He crossed his arms. “C’mon, let’s just get it over with. I’m only doing this because Ma asked me too, so the sooner we get to to Iki Town, the sooner this can be over.”

Though I let out a deep sigh, I soon acquiesced, and together with Lani and Lucky, we stepped out onto Route 1. There were two paths up to Iki Town from where we stood — the main road, paved and well-worn, and the side road, where one could find a variety of pokemon scrounging around. I had expressed to Fiora my desire to take the side road — a plan that had clearly backfired.

As we stepped out of the house, however, Nate took one look at my backpack and shook his head. “By the love of Arceus, are you carrying bricks to toss at any pokemon you find?”

“No, I—”

He snatched the bag from my back, flipping it open. “Textbooks?” He looked up. “You brought fucking textbooks?”

“They have lots of useful—”

“No.” He yanked the books out of the bag, setting them down on the porch. “Trust your instincts. You’ll do fine.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but sighed, shaking my head. It wasn’t worth arguing about. With an awkward silence falling over us. I cradled Lani in my arms, rubbing her head every now and again. Soon, Nate made a strange noise, scratching the back of his head.

"Listen... I just want you to know that... Y'know, I'm sorry about what I said earlier." Nate brought up as we ascended a hill, and I glanced at him, shocked. "It wasn't cool. Your dad was a really great trainer, and I'm sure you'll be too."

"Thanks."

"I don't know, I think she's too reckless. She won't get anywhere far, in my opinion." Lucky mentioned, even though Nate couldn't understand him.

"Why don't you stop being so judgemental and grumpy? She's trying. That's all that matters." The water type spoke up from my arms, and I looked down at her with a smile. The Arcanine looked shocked that she had the nerve to talk back to him but didn't speak further.

We continued walking as a group for a few minutes before Nate stopped in his tracks. "Look."

Glancing up the road, I saw a small bird-like Pokemon pecking at the ground. Looking closer, I recognised this as a Pikipek, a flying type common to Alola. Nate looked at me with a grin playing across his face.

"Everyone has to catch their first pokemon at some point. Go for it!"

Nodding at him, I moved towards the Pikipek, Lani in hand. As we approached, Lani leapt to the ground, attracting the attention of the Pikipek. Quickly, I tossed a pokeball, hitting it in the forehead. However, it broke out of the Pokeball, shattering it in the process.

"Remember, you need to weaken it first!" Nate called from behind me, while Lucky barked in disdain.

I rolled my eyes. 'Duh.'

"Lani, use Water Gun!" I commanded, and she quickly got to work, soaking the little bird with a blast of water. It pecked at her, but she shrugged it off with no real trouble. Feeling more confident, I tossed another Pokeball, and this time, it stayed.

"Woo! Good job, Lani!" I exclaimed, rushing to pick up my Pokeball. Sending out my new pal, the little bird looked up at me with slight disdain.

"So you're my trainer then? Woo." He muttered and looked towards Lani. "Ooh, one of the Kahuna's fancy-schmancy Pokemon. That's original."

"Hi! My name's Kaia, and as you said, I'll be your trainer." I whispered in greeting, and he seemed shocked that I acknowledged him. "I'll call you... Ranger."

Ranger blinked a few times. "Did you just.. speak to me?"

I nodded in response, and Lani gave a small grin in his direction.

"Well, now I've seen everything. Ranger it is then."

"Welcome to the team, Ranger." I patted him on the head once, and he seemed mildly annoyed by it, but didn't snap at me or anything, so I assumed that was a good sign.

Returning back to Nate, he smiled at me. "Wow, that was a good catch! There have certainly been worse."

We continued walking, Lani once again in my arms and Ranger on my shoulder. They were discussing things, introducing themselves, and generally having a good time.

"So this girl, Kaia, has the ability to talk to Pokemon. However, she hasn't told anyone yet, so she can't actually respond to us right now." Ranger asked Lani, drawing the attention of the Arcanine.

"Yup! I'm not sure why, but I just go with it. Though I did only meet her today."

The bird let out a small chirp that could probably be construed as a chuckle. Leaning towards my ear, he turned his beak towards me.

"You smell funny."

He then continued to chuckle to himself, much to the confusion of Lani and the chagrin of myself. It seemed we had picked up a real character.

Finally, after walking far enough, we arrived in Iki Town once more. While the town had almost glowed green the last time I was here, now it was bathed in an orange light from the sunset as well as the torches lit around the town. The entrance of town as empty, and I assumed most of the citizens would be up at the festival down the road.

"Well, Lucky and I have something to attend to, good luck at the Festival!" Nate laughed and began to walk down a side road off the main street. However, he stopped in his tracks after a moment.

"Kaia... If you do decide to go on the Island Challenge..." He began but stopped partway through his sentence. "Just be careful. It can be pretty rough out there." He seemed almost... sad, for a moment, before shaking his head.

"I will, don't worry." With that, he was gone, walking down the torchlit street with his Arcanine.

Moving along the street towards the festival, I began to smell the fish and other assorted foods. Gradually, my pace changed from a casual walk to a flat-out run, with Ranger fluttering behind me. I was so distracted, I slammed into something, falling on my rear.

Looking up, I saw Hau. He laughed and held out a hand to help me up, which I accepted graciously. His Litten was sitting out of its' Pokeball, watching us with piercing yellow eyes. Lani waved her fin at him, hoping out of my arms.

"Litten, hi! Sorry about the battle earlier." She greeted, and he nodded awkwardly at her.

"It's no big deal. Also, it's Tsuo now."

She nodded, seemingly surprised. "Well, as long as there are no hard feelings, it's good to see you!"

Meanwhile, I was currently engaged in conversation with Hau. "So I see you've caught a Pikipek. That's awesome!" He mentioned, motioning to Ranger on my shoulder.

"This twerp has more energy than Lani," Ranger muttered in my ear, and I tried not to chuckle at the thought.

"Yeah, it's cool. Did you catch anything else?" I asked politely, looking behind him briefly. Just up those stairs, the festival of delicious food awaited.

"Yup! Though it will have to be a surprise for later." He replied with a grin. "Oh, Professor!" He exclaimed past me, and I turned my head to see Kukui walking up behind us.

"Hey you two! Glad to see you getting along. Are you ready for the festivities?"

"Festivities?" I asked politely, stretching my arm.

"Yeah! Every trainer who sets out on their Island Challenge does the Entry Ceremony, in which two Challengers battle each other in celebration of Pokemon. Isn't that cool?" He replied with a grin, and I blinked, surprised.

"Oh, I didn't realise," I admitted, looking at Lani and Ranger briefly. "Are you two ready to battle?"

They both nodded, with an "If I have to," from Ranger, and a gasp echoed from behind the Professor. Lillie walked up to the three of us, looked briefly astonished.

"Wow! I've never seen someone communicate so well with their Pokemon!" She admitted, her eyes scanning Lani and Ranger.

"Yeah, well." I laughed awkwardly, still not entirely eager to share my secret.

"So are you two going to battle then?" She asked politely, glancing between Hau and me.

I glanced at him, and he looked towards me, our eyes meeting. Together, we nodded.

* * *

I stepped up to the wooden platform, trying not to get psyched out by the crowd watching my every move. Across from me, Hau looked just as nervous, but he played it off with a smile. In my hand, I clutched Ranger's pokeball. I knew I had only had him for a few hours, but still, I felt an innate attachment to the little guy. To my left, standing on a slightly raised wooden platform stood Kahuna Hala, who looked at both of us with a large, gruff smile.

"Welcome, one and all, to our first match of this summer's Entrance Festival!" The Kahuna commenced, sending a hush across the crowd. "We dedicate this day, every year, to our youth about to set out on their life-changing journies, and our resident guardian Tapu Koko!"

The crowd all muttered thanks to Tapu Koko, including Hau. I attempted to mutter along so as to not stand out, but I'm pretty sure I flubbed it up a little bit.

"In this match, we have two young trainers eager to begin their true callings." The Kahuna continued, and his command of the crowd and the theatrics of it all was to be commended. "On this side, we have Hau Reyes, grandson of the Kahuna."

I glanced up towards Hau, mouthing the words 'You're Hala's grandson?', and he chuckled at me.

"On the other side, we have Kaia Stirling, daughter of Will Stirling." A slight echo crossed the crowd, a couple of people recognising the name of my father. "Let the battle begin!"

If I expected to beat Hau easily again, I was sorely mistaken. When I sent out Ranger, he grinned at me at released a Pichu, the bane of flying types as well as water types. Ranger looked back at me incredulously, but I shook my head. Lani was best saved for his Litten, so I had to trust in Ranger's abilities.

Starting the first round, the Pichu moved first, using Charm to lower Ranger's attack. The bird countered with a call that echoed across the stadium, piercing the Pichu and knocking it off balance.

At Hau's command, the Pichu then sent a crack of electricity through Ranger. I called in shock, but he simply shook his head at me.

"I'm fine! It takes more than that to take me down!" He growled, before turning back to the Pichu once more. I was impressed with his bravery, considering his weakened state.

He then called out once more, and the echo of his earlier attack returned, both striking at the Pichu and sending him down. Frowning, Hau retrieved the knocked out Pichu. He then sent out his Litten, to which I called Ranger back to my side and sent out Lani.

Lani stared the Litten down, and it grinned wickedly at her. "I don't plan on losing again." He growled, before pouncing and scratching at her throat. Lani reared back in shock, blasting him with water in the process.

"Lani! Are you alright?" I called out, and she nodded back at me. "Alright! Use Water Gun again!"

"Litten, use Scratch!"

Both Pokemon rushed towards each other, with Lani blasting her water and Litten pulling out his claws. I blinked as they collided, and it was over. Lani stood victorious over the unconscious Litten, before turning around and barking at me in excitement.

"Our winner is Kaia, daughter of Will Stirling!" If Hala was disappointed in his grandson, he didn't show it. "They both fought admirably."

The Kahuna approached the two of us in the centre of the stage. "So, Hau Reyes. Do you accept the Island Challenge, and swear to see it through to the end, to the best of your abilities?"

"I swear." He replied with a smile, before glancing towards me.

"Do you, Kaia Stirling, accept the Island Challenge, and swear to see it through to the end, to the best of your abilities?"

I looked towards Ranger and Lani, who rested near my previous position. They both looked beaten up, but they were also flush with pride. In faint whispers, I could hear them discussing the strategy of the battle and how they and I could improve. Turning back to the Kahuna, I smiled widely.

"I swear."

A roar of cheers echoed through the crowd, and I looked towards Hau with a grin. Our journey had officially begun.


	4. four: won't settle down

_i won't settle down  
_ _this subtle part of me  
_ _you won't see me now_

 

My eyes and Ranger's eyes were narrowed on the same target; a Rattata, who had come out to play during the night. It was weak from Ranger's attacks, barely able to stand. It glared at me, the challenge fierce in its eyes.   
  
"Ranger, stand back!" I shouted, grasping a pokeball from my bag, one of the ones Nate had given me after the festival. "Here we go!"  
  
I tossed the pokeball and watched it soar through the air. Ranger fluttered back as it flew, and it slammed into the Rattata, causing it to disappear in a flash of light. I waited in silence for a few moments. I could hear Lani's intake of air at my feet. After a few seconds passed, we all heard a satisfying click, signifying the Rattata had been caught.  
  
"Yes! We did it!" I exclaimed, rushing over to the pokeball and twirling around, holding it high in the sky.  
  
"Showboat." Ranger scoffed, and I stopped my twirling, sending a glare towards him.   
  
Excited to meet our new partner, I called him out. As the light took shape as the small rodent, I got a better look at him up close. This Ratatta was much different than the ones we had in the Kanto region. His fur was much darker, and he stood on two legs rather than four. As I looked him over, the Rattata bowed onto one knee, kneeling his head.  
  
"You have proven your battling spirit to me. I will follow you to the ends of the earth, milady." He murmured, his eyes still to the floor.  
  
I chuckled awkwardly at that. "You can just call me Kaia," I responded, a smile playing across my lips. "Do you have a name?"  
  
He blinked up at me, surprised by the response. Whether he was surprised at me responding to him or surprised at me asking him to be casual, I will never know.  
  
"We have no true concepts of names in my clan, milady." He responded dutifully, but his eyes had moved towards my face, scanning it.  
  
"Well, how about we call you... Iro?" It was a name I had given a stuffed Rattata back home as a child. While this Rattata looked different, it sent a warm thrill of nostalgia down my back. He nodded at me and glanced over at Ranger and Lani, who had gathered near my feet.  
  
"Howdy, new blood." Ranger chirped, before being bonked in the head by Lani.   
  
"He's just as new as us, you dingus." The sea lion giggled. "It's good to meet you, Iro. My name's Lani, and this grump is Ranger."  
  
"Wow! Nice one, Kaia!" Hau's voice echoed from behind me, and I turned around to see my fellow trainer there, grinning wildly at me. With a grin, I waved him over.   
  
"Good catch! I could tell that Rattata really respected you." He laughed as he approached, sticking his hands behind his head in his dark hair.   
  
"Thanks," I muttered, looking at my shoes.   
  
Hau glanced around at the sky, now covered in stars. "Boy, it got late quick, huh?" He mentioned offhand. "Either that or I got distracted at that party."  
  
"Oh! The professor wanted me to give you this, he said you forgot them." Hau reached into his orange backpack, drawing a red device and a small rainbow pendant. I took them eagerly.  
  
"What are they?" I was more referring to the pendant than the Pokedex, I'd seen my dad's enough times.  
  
"The red thing is a Pokedex. I guess it records data on Pokemon you capture?" He responded nonchalantly. "The pendant is your Island Challenge Pendant, which will allow you entrance into trial sites."  
  
"Oh, thanks! Wouldn't want to forget that."  
  
We both stood awkwardly in the cool night air before I cleared my throat.   
  
"Anyway, it was nice to meet you Hau." I coughed, looking back towards my house just down the road. "I'll see you tomorrow probably?"  
  
"For sure! Talk to you later!" With that, he was gone, darting back up the hill. Behind me, the Rattata spoke up once he left.   
  
"So... you can understand me? My mother always said humans couldn't understand Pokemon." He mentioned, his whiskers twitching in curiosity.  
  
"Well... most can't. But I can, for some reason."  
  
"Oh. Well, that is certainly odd, milady, if you'll forgive me saying." He responded, giving a small bow once more.  
  
I blinked at his politeness. "Oh, it's not a problem. I agree, it's weird." I chuckled, motioning for him, as well as Lani and Ranger, to follow. "I'm trying to not mention it to anyone until I figure out what's going on."  
  
"That seems wise, milady."  
  
After a minute or so, we arrived back at home. Stepping inside, I glanced around at the dark living room. 'It looks like I'm the last one home.' I mused to myself, taking extra caution to walk to my bedroom without disturbing anyone.  
  
Entering the room with the faded blue walls, I looked at my three Pokemon. MY Pokemon. Saying it sent more tingles down my spine than you can possibly imagine. It was finally my time to shine.  
  
"So, Iro. We're planning on taking a journey across Alola. Are you game to come with?" I asked, looking at him and demanding honesty. I had already had the talk with Lani and Ranger, who both agreed with varying degrees of enthusiasm.  
  
Pokemon, in some shape or form, had to consent to be caught. A Pokemon who is adamantly against being trained by a human is unable to be caught in a pokeball. Whereas pokeballs of the past tricked Pokemon and forced them to be caught, after a large-scale protest against these methods took place in Unova a few decades back, the pokeball manufacturers changed up their formula. Now, instead of more costly Pokemon simply dosing Pokemon with stronger and stronger drugs, they conveyed the trainer's thoughts and emotions better as they grew more expensive. Some people despised the change, others embraced it.  
  
"Well, milady, I am here to serve you. I would be delighted to accompany you all on a journey."  
  
"Great! We set out first thing tomorrow!" I grinned at the three of them. "Would you all like to sleep out of your Pokeballs or in them?  
  
"If I could sleep out of my Pokeball, that would be very nice, milady." I nodded before I put his pokeball in my bag.  
  
The other two also decided that sleeping outside of their pokeballs was for the best. Lani took a seat right at my pillow, drifting off to sleep almost instantly. Ranger found a roost on my desk lamp, but he didn't drift off until much, much later. Iro planted himself on the windowsill, staring outside at the long, flowing grass. Changing really quickly into my pyjamas, I crawled under my covers and entered a rough, dream-filled sleep.  
  


* * *

  
  
My footsteps echoed down the long, stone cavern. The air, it didn't exactly look like air. It was almost like water, water I could breathe. The blue, bioluminescent plants that lined the walls shook slightly as I walked.  
  
"Kaia. Kaia! You need to wake up. You're in grave danger."  
  
I could hear the voice echoing through the hallway. I kept walking. I didn't want to keep walking, but I didn't want to stop walking either. My muscles moved without my guidance, causing me to drift forward without my own direction.  
  
"Kaia! Wake up, please!"  
  
I didn't want to wake up.   
  
"Kaia!"  
  
No one could make me.  
  
"Please, Kaia! C'mon on."  
  
No one would ever control me again. Never aga-  
  
"KAIA!"  
  
With a gasp, I awoke, covered in an obscene amount of sweat. Lani jumped as I sat up, looking me over with caution. Glancing at the windowsill, I saw the dark silhouette of Iro staring at me, with the moon shining on his back. I glanced at the clock: 3:06am. Nightmare. It was a fairly common occurrence, though I could never really remember them after. Sighing, I shook my head.  
  
"Don't worry about it guys. Sorry to wake you."  
  
I closed my eyes and slammed my head against the pillow once more, attempting to return to my slumber. It didn't work.  
  


* * *

  
  
"-and you have your bag?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
"Sunscreen? You know how hot it can be in Alola."  
  
"Trust me, Auntie, I'm fine! We're good to go."  
  
It was true. With Lani, Ranger, and Iro at my side, we were standing outside the house as Aunt Fiora fretted over me. In fact, we'd been in this spot for close to half an hour already.  
  
"Well, it's just, when Nate went on his Challenge, he got burnt like a tomato! He was red for a good few months after that." She muttered, lost in her thoughts for a moment.  
  
"Ok, you have to show me those pictures when I get back." I laughed, giving her a quick hug. "But Lillie and Hau said they would meet up with me in Hau'oli City and I don't want to be late."  
  
She nodded, but a small grin crossed her mouth. "You're already making friends then, huh?"  
  
I blinked, a slight flush coming over my face. "Hau is the only one of the trainers around here besides myself who wants to get a headstart on the challenge, and Lillie has some errands for the professor."  
  
"Uh huh, I totally believe you."  
  
"Wow, she can read you like a book, Kaia." Ranger chirped up, and I twirled around to give him a glare. As I did, Fiora laughed again.  
  
"Wow, you're so much like your father, it's uncanny. It's almost as though you could understand your Pokemon," She laughed again. "But you have your mum's brains. Don't forget how much she loves you."  
  
'Wow, Aunt Fiora should do stand-up, because that was killer.' I thought bitterly to myself  
  
Giving her a final hug, I stepped away, with my Pokemon following behind me. Rushing away, I looked back to give her a wave and was surprised by the expression that crossed her face. Sadness.  
  


* * *

  
  
"Kaia! Finally. I was worried you had ditched us!" Lillie exclaimed as I approached, the busy city of Hau'oli around us.  
  
Hau'oli was an interesting city, to be sure. I had only been once, on the first day I arrived here, but even then I was struck by its size. People hustled to-and-fro, all immersed in their own lives that happened to intersect with others. The ocean was only a few feet away from the three of us, as the waves crashed on the beach. I could see little kids playing in the waves get swamped, only to appear a few feet away with a shocked expression on their faces.   
  
Still, for the largest city in the region, I wasn't exactly certain what I expected. If the stories of Castelia City that my dad told me were true, then this place was dwarfed compared to some of the other regions. Hell, even Kanto's Saffron City was probably bigger than this. Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing, I suppose that depended on the person. For me, I appreciated the smaller scale.  
  
Lani and Ranger were resting in their pokeballs, but Iro was wide awake and at my side as we approached the other two youths. Hau grinned at me, his dress shirt from the night before now replaced by a sleek black T-shirt. Which was good, considering how much his shirt had clashed with the orange shorts he still wore. His Pichu rested on his shoulder. Lillie was wearing her frilly white dress from before still, but she had removed the large, poofy hat. At her side, the pokeball duffle bag which probably contained the Pokemon I saw previously rested.  
  
"Hi, guys, sorry to keep you."  
  
"It's no problem! I was just asking Lillie if she was a Pokemon trainer herself." Hau replied, looking towards the blonde girl. I glanced at Lillie suspiciously, but she didn't acknowledge it.  
  
"Um... Well, no. I never really had the chance to. I've been busy with research stuff and I guess I never really had the time." She replied nervously, switching her weight between her two feet. If Hau noticed any nerves, he didn't show it.  
  
"Well, that's not good! It's dangerous to wander the wild alone, even with repels." Hau mentioned, a look of concern crossing his face. "I'll catch you a pokemon to keep you company!"   
  
Lillie looked embarrassed and tried to play it off, but Hau remained unconvinced.  
  
"Well, should we be off then?" I asked with a smile, deciding not to engage Lillie and question her about the Pokemon in the bag. I had my own secrets, she was allowed to have hers. "Actually, where are we headed to first?"  
  
"Oh, well, I need to grab some research material from the shopping centre," Lillie explained. "But you and Hau need to go find Captain Ilima, the local Trial Captain, to get him to take you to his trial."  
  
"Trial Captain?"  
  
"Oh yeah! You don't actually know how this works, do you?" Hau asked, and I shook my head. "Well, there are Trials, which are essentially tests, overseen by a captain. Seven in total. After beating the Trial, you face off against a really powerful opponent! Then you receive a stone to prove you've beaten the trial."  
  
"So... sort of like gyms in other regions?"  
  
Hau looked particularly perturbed at this. "No no no, it's completely different!" He then launched into every little detail of what made them different, much to my chagrin.  
  
"ANYWAY," I exclaimed, looking past him. "We should find this Ilima person then, right?"  
  
"Right."  
  
We all began walking down the busy street, and Iro moved up to my shoulder so as no to be trampled. It was an extremely long street. In fact, Hau told me that there was essentially only three streets in the city, but boy they were long streets.  
  
Eventually, we dropped Lillie off at the mall and agreed to all meet up at the Pokemon Center in an hour. As Hau and I walked down the street, we heard a sudden shout from a few blocks up. Glancing at each other, we raced forward, Iro and Pichu at our sides.  
  
I can't even begin to describe what we saw. A young woman, maybe twenty-five or twenty-six years old, was standing outside her house with a broom in hand. Using said broom, she was repeatedly beating what appeared to be a blob of goo, screeching profanities as loud as she could.  
  
"You filthy creatures! Always trying to steal the water of my plants! I'm outright sick of it!" She screeched, chasing after the blob as it scooted away, hitting it over and over. Running, I grabbed her arm just before the broom came down again.  
  
"It has learned its lesson. You can stop having a bitch fit."  
  
She whipped around, glaring at me. "Stay out of this! It doesn't involve you!"  
  
"Well, actually, depending on how damaged this Pokemon actually is, I could be a key witness in a Pokemon abuse case," I replied casually, moving past her to rest next to the cowering Pokemon. The woman went pale as I mentioned it. "So unless you feel like having your licence revoked, I would suggest you return home and stay there."  
  
It was complete and utter bullshit, but somehow the way I mentioned it convinced her it was an actual thing. Paling, she walked away slowly, desperate not to anger Hau or I as she returned to her house. Hau was quickly checking the plants to ensure the Pokemon didn't do any damage and ignored the woman.  
  
Iro raced up next to me, growling at the woman as she backed away. I shook my head at him, stopping him from darting after her. "It's not worth it." I murmured, and he sighed, before turning to the strange Pokemon.  
  
It had morphed into a shape more suitable for an actual Pokemon; I quickly recognised it as a Grimer, though again, different than the ones we usually encounter in Kanto.  
  
"It's okay, it's alright now. You're fine." I soothed, and the cowering Pokemon seemed more... downtrodden now.  
  
"I'm so useless! Ugh!" The Grimer, voice surprisingly bubbly, cried and turned away from Iro and myself.  
  
Glancing back to ensure Hau was distracted, I rested my hand on her... shoulder? "Hey, now, I'm sure that's not true." I soothed, my voice turning surprisingly motherly. "Why don't you tell me what happened?"  
  
The Pokemon's sniffling stopped, and she rubbed her hands together. "I just wanted one of her flowers. I've admired them for so long... their red colour is so pretty." She murmured quietly, glancing sideways at the flowers. "I figured she wouldn't miss one."  
  
I glanced at the Grimer, and back at the flowers. Striding over, I plucked one of them, much to the surprise of Hau. Walking back, I presented it to the Grimer, who seemed surprised and ecstatic.  
  
"Wow, thank you!" She reached tenderly to grab it, before placing it delicately on her head where an ear would normally be. The stem melted slightly into her head, but the actual flower rested above the surface, shining like the sun. "How can I repay you?"  
  
Before I could respond, Iro interjected. "We're actually going on a journey, if you would like to come, miss."  
  
I blinked at him, surprised at his offer. It was the same thing I was going to suggest, but it was still odd to have been beaten to the punch.  
  
The Grimer looked to me, then to Iro, then back to me. "Really?"  
  
We both nodded.  
  
"...Okay!" She seemed worried, but at the same time, she seemed excited. I quickly pulled out a pokeball, tapping it on her forehead. With almost no hesitation, she was caught. Eager to meet her, I sent her out alongside the rest of the team.  
  
"Hi, there! I'm Lani, the de-facto leader, and these are my subordinates Ranger and Iro!" The water-type goofed, which received an eye-roll from Ranger and a look of confusion from Iro.  
  
"O-Oh, hello. I actually don't really have a name." The timid creature responded, glancing between the three of them.  
  
"Why don't we call you..." I began, before my eyes settled on the beautiful red flower now attached to her head. "Flores."  
  
"I... I think I like that." She replied, a slight smile crossing her face.  
  


* * *

  
  
Hau and I continued walking down the streets, searching for any sign of Ilima. Hau mentioned that Ilima was usually at the Trainer School, but since school wasn't in session, he wouldn't be there now. Eventually, we made our way down to the Marina.  
  
There, we saw a strange pink-haired kid, about our age, talking with two men dressed in baggy black clothing. Both men in black clothing had a strange trinket drapped over their chest... a skull pendant? Why did that feel so familiar? Either way, they were clearly intimidating the man, and I wasn't going to stand for it. Glancing at each other, Hau and I rushed to help him.  
  
"Well well, Ilima, what do we have here? Too scared to face us alone?" The man on the right asked, glaring at the pink-haired man, Ilima.  
  
"Yo, bro, I think we can take all three of them anyway." His friend interjected, looking us over. "These two just look like little brats."  
  
Ranger, on my shoulder and ever vigilant, called out in anger, leaping to the ground, prepared to do battle.  
  
"Alrighty then. Bro, you take the kid, I'll take the chick. Once they're both out for the count, we'll take on Ilima together."  
  
"Got it, bro."  
  
I prepared myself, facing down the hoodlum. He sent out a Zubat, and Ranger ruffled his feathers, staring down the fluttering creature.  
  
"Ranger! Now!"   
  
He leapt into action, flying upwards and slamming down onto the Zubat, sending it spiralling to the ground. "Again!" He continued pecking, until the Zubat was unconscious, frustrating the grunt, who sent it back into its pokeball.  
  
"Nice one, Ranger."  
  
"Ugh, you kid! You got no respect!" He shouted at me before Ilima walked up and placed a hand on his face.  
  
"You lost. Both of you did. Now get over it and leave." He commanded, his face stern.   
  
As he said it, I noticed Hau and Pichu had disposed of their enemy's Pokemon as well. The two goons looked at each other, before darting out of the Marina. Pleased, the Captain turned back to us.  
  
"Thanks for the assistance, Hau." He nodded to the boy, who grinned back. The Captain then glanced towards me. "And who's this?"  
  
"Actually, this is Kaia, and we're both going on the Island Challenge this year!"  
  
"Ah." Ilima nodded, looking me up and down. "It's about time, Hau, you're already 2 years behind the rest of us."   
  
Hau laughed. "Yeah, well, Grandpa figured it would be best to wait a few years."  
  
"Kaia, was it? It's good to meet you." He extended his hand to me, which I grasped with pride. "I'm Ilima, Trial Captain for the Verdant Cavern Trial."  
  
I nodded. "A pleasure."  
  
"However... I want to test you. I've already seen Hau, and I know he's ready for this challenge." He explained, and I looked at him, slightly confused. "I wish to challenge you to a battle if you'll accept."  
  
I glanced down at Ranger and Lani, who both nodded to me, showing they were prepared to do battle. "Alright! You're on."  
  


* * *

  
  
We both moved into position, having cleared the area for a battle. While spontaneous battles did happen, such as the ones with those goons, the League (I assumed they have something similar in Alola) usually asks trainers to consider their surroundings when battling.  
  
Ilima immediately sent out a Yungoos, it's yellow fur glimmering in the sunlight. Looking towards Lani, she jumped into battle, ready to deal some damage.  
  
It was fairly one-sided. It was no match for Lani blasting it with water and fairy type attacks, and it quickly fell unconscious. Next, the Captain sent out a Smeargle, which glared menacingly at Lani.  
  
"Lani, use Baby Doll Eyes!" I commanded, and Lani put on her best performance, supposed to cause the Smeargle to pull more punches. However, the Smeargle merely glared at her, before calling the power of leaves, which slammed into her.  
  
"Ah!"  
  
"Lani!? Are you alright?" I called, and she looked back towards me, shaking her head. I glared at Ilima.  
  
"You have to be prepared for your opponent to have surprises! If you don't understand that, you won't survive out there!" Ilima called, and anger played on his face for a moment.  
  
"Send me in, Kaia!" Ranger chirped on my shoulder, watching Lani take a beating with a fearful look playing in his eyes.  
  
I bit my lip, assessing the situation. Pikipek was extremely common around this area, and Ilima's goal was to test the new trainer's skills. I wouldn't be surprised if he had a second trick up his sleeve for Ranger. Still, I had no option. Calling Lani back, she hobbled towards me with her head down.  
  
"Hey, you did well. No worries." I cooed slightly, watching the orange bird dart into battle. "Ranger's got this now."  
  
And he did. Ranger had been training to defeat normal types, and with a few precise hits of his claws, the Smeargle. My fears had been baseless, and I breathed a sigh of relief.  
  
"Well done." Ilima approached me, his hands clasped together. "You're ready for the trial. As are you, Hau." He explained, before turning around.  
  
"Meet me at the Pokemon Center later, and I'll lead you two to the trial site."  
  
For a moment, we were all silent as he walked away.


	5. five: innocent

_come on! come on! i’ll keep running til' i burn out the sun  
_ _i’ll find my way, yes i’ll be damn sure to find my way_

 

Hau, Lillie and I spent the rest of the day exploring Hau'oli City. Lillie had finished her errand for the professor, and she was free for a while, so we all decided to go buy some Malasada before dinner because... teenagers, I guess.  
  
"So we have to head to Route 2 next?" I asked, taking a bite of my food.   
  
We were sitting in a booth at the Malasada place which Hau insisted "was the best in Alola". I asked him how he knew if he'd never been off of Melemele Island, to which he promptly told me to shut up.  
  
"You know, Lillie, I'm serious about the Pokemon thing," Hau mentioned, before stuffing his face full of malasada.  
  
"Pokemon thing?" Lillie asked, shifting slightly. Beside her, the pokeball duffle bag had its own seat, only further confirming my suspicions. Either that or I was going insane.  
  
"I'm going to catch you a Pokemon!" He grinned, his face still full of Malasada. "If the scene at the docks today is any indication, travelling is just safer with a Pokemon."  
  
She paled a little bit. "Uh... maybe I'll just stick next to you and Kaia. You handled the thugs at the docks flawlessly! If your story is anything to go by." She gave us a look from across the table, but it came off as more of a pout than a glare.  
  
"Well, I'll protect you, but I still think it would be smarter." He grumbled, glancing towards the Malasada Vendor. "I'll be right back." He stood up and moved towards the vendor with a grin.  
  
"Young people, am I right?" Ranger, who had taken his place on my shoulder, glanced at me. "Ah, nevermind."  
  
If I didn't want to keep this "Kaia: Pokemon Whisperer" thing under wraps, I probably would have brought up the fact that he's probably younger than us.  
  
"So... Lillie. Isn't the Pokemon you already have good enough to defend you?" I mentioned casually, taking a bite of my food. The blonde immediately paled, looking down at her food.  
  
"I had assumed you had forgotten about her or something." She replied with a sigh, shaking her head.  
  
"Nope."  
  
"Well... her name is Nebby, and she can't actually do any battling," Lillie explained, poking at her food. "Professor Kukui told me it would be smarter to keep her a secret. I hope you'll forgive me."  
  
I nodded, swallowing my food. "That makes sense. In which case, I agree with Hau, you should catch something to defend yourself with."  
  
"B-but, it's-"  
  
"I'm back with more!" Hau had returned, goofy grin plastered on his face and Malasada in his arms.  
  
"I'm full." I murmured, a small smile playing on my lips.  
  
"Yeah, me too." Lillie agreed, looking across the table to me.  
  
"Who said it was for either of you?" Hau replied, earning a chuckle from Lillie and me.   
  
"I wasn't joking."  
  


* * *

  
  
Lillie and Hau had already checked into the Pokemon Center for the evening, but I couldn't sleep. Instead, I took a walk down Main Street, checking out shops already closed for the evening. The sun had finally begun to set, sending a spray of bright orange across the sky.  
  
Flores travelled behind me, despite my insistence of her walking alongside me. Every once in a while, I would ask her about a specific building or a rare plant, but she seemed hesitant to answer. Iro lagged behind, attempting to cheer her up.  
  
"Oh, I know a good one!" Iro peaked up, drawing the interest of Flores.  
  
"Really?" The Grimer replied, her voice both curious and nervous.  
  
"Why don't Cloister give to charity?"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because they possess shells!" Iro chuckled, much to the confusion of Flores and me. "Wait... That's not how that went..."  
  
A grin crossed my face, and I turned back to the road ahead. 'I can't imagine being unable to hear my Pokemon. It would be such a strange feeling.' I thought, my hands moving into a ball behind my back.  
  
"So, milady? You never told Lady Flores or me why you don't tell people you can understand us." Iro spoke up, causing me to halt in my tracks. "If you don't feel comfortable, that's fine."  
  
I turned to look back at them again. Iro was the one asking the question, but Flores seemed to be the most curious one. She leant forward, the yellow line on her face shifting, and watched me curiously. I gave a sigh, tapping my foot awkwardly.  
  
"Wouldn't you?" I replied defensively, looking away. "People are mean. People hurt those who are different. Just look at the woman who attacked Flores. She didn't take even one second to get to know her. It's easier this way."  
  
Neither had a response to that. Nodding, I turned around and continued walking.  
  
We arrived at the beach a few minutes later, the sun having finally descended past the horizon. The ocean was almost eerily quiet, the only sound being the waves lapping at the shore. Flores retired to her pokeball after our conversation, leaving only Iro and me to walk down the shore. I watched my footsteps melt into the ocean as the tide ascended, swallowing them whole. It was soothing, after such an exciting day.   
  
After a few minutes, I turned around, returning to the Pokemon Center.  
  


* * *

  
  
"What a beautiful day!" Lani exclaimed, staring out the window as I changed into my clothes for the day.   
  
"It will certainly be a warm one," Ranger commented, his eyes scanning the beautiful green fields.  
  
I stepped out of the change room, glancing at the two Pokemon. They looked back at me, a grin plastered on Lani's face, and I sighed heavily.   
  
"Let's do it."  
  
Leaving the room I was staying in for the night, I stepped into the main foyer of the Pokemon Center, expecting to see Hau and Lillie, but they were nowhere to be found. Curious, I walked up to the Nurse.  
  
"Excuse me, are Hau Reyes or Lillie... Uh..." It occurred to me that I had no clue what Lillie's last name was. I was sure Kukui had mentioned her last name, but I was almost certainly not listening when he talked about his work. "Are Hau or Lillie in?"  
  
"Are you Kaia?" She asked, and I nodded. "Hau and Lillie said they were going to get an early start, and they'd meet you at the Poke Center on Route 2."  
  
I was surprised. I had assumed that we would all meet up in the morning and head out together... I guess I had slept in too late. Regardless, I looked behind me towards Ranger and Lani, the latter of whom had a concerned look on her face. I smiled.  
  
"Thanks anyway," I mentioned to the nurse, before returning back to my Pokemon. "Change of plans, guys! We're going to head out on our own and meet up with Hau and Lillie later."  
  
"Kaia..." Lani murmured, but I had already spun around and started walking towards the door.  
  
Though I still got turned around a little bit, it was easier to navigate the city today, even without Hau. Ranger had taken his place on my shoulder as per usual, with Lani hobbling beside me for a while before taking her spot in my arms. It was slightly quieter today than yesterday; I accounted it to it being a Saturday. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a small boy playing with a Rockruff, putting me in a slightly better mood as a smile crossed my face.  
  
We made our way to the end of the street, turning right this time, towards the exit of town. As we approached the outer end of the city, it got much quieter and taking a look around, it almost seemed like Nature was slowly creeping it's way into the city, with more and more vegetation appearing the farther away we got from the city centre.  
  
Stepping out into the wild once more, I took a breath of the fresh air as a sea breeze slowly blew in my face. I enjoyed cities, but I felt much more comfortable out in nature. Less cramped.  
  
"I almost forgot what a good smell was," Ranger commented, glancing around the area. Even though he put on a brave face, I could tell he was just as entranced with the surroundings as I was. It was clear he had never been to this part of the island before.  
  
Looking around, I noticed a few trainers gathered up ahead, identifiable by their pokeballs. Glancing to Ranger on my shoulder, he nodded. Taking it as approval, I jogged up to the gaggle of trainers, all of whom were teenagers.  
  
"Hi! My name's Kaia." I greeted, and Ranger gave a chirp in greeting as well. "Are any of you looking for an opponent?"  
  


* * *

  
  
"...And, that's five." I exclaimed as the Cottonee fell to the ground, much to the shock of its trainer. "Thanks for the great battles!"  
  
Flores had defeated the Cottonee using her fists alone, and while she was still nervous, I could see a slight glow of pride echoing from around her.  
  
The girl withdrew her Cottonee, looking up at me with a bitter smile. "Wow, you're really good!" She exclaimed, standing up and shaking my hand. "You communicate with your Pokemon so well!"  
  
"Ahah, yeah, well..." I laughed nervously, glancing at the rest of them. "Thanks again, you five! We have to run, unfortunately."  
  
Walking away, Flores shuffled behind me, still too shy to talk to me directly. I didn't mind. I knew the feeling. After we got far enough away, I sighed and began marching up the hill again. Ranger was staring ahead, eyes peeled for danger, while Lani and Iro rested in their pokeballs.  
  
"Oof!" Looking down, a small yellow creature was lying on the ground, staring up at me with wide eyes.  
  
"O-oh, sorry miss!" It squeaked, standing up and fluttering to my eyeline. With a better view, I could identify this as a Cutiefly.  
  
"Oh, it's no problem, it was my fault! Are you alright?" I asked, looking it over. There didn't seem to be any permanent damage, just a few tufts of dirt.  
  
"Wow! You're the most polite person I've ever met. Most just ignore me." It laughed, and I smiled.  
  
"Do you have a name?" I asked curiously and shrugged as Ranger shifted to look the Cutiefly up and down.  
  
"Well, my momma called me Sage." He replied, landing on my hand as I stuck it out palm up. "My older brother is named Thyme, I guess she found it funny or something."  
  
"...Is she still around?" I asked sadly, noticing the way he phrased his sentences.  
  
"...No."  
  
"Oh. What about your brother?" I asked, and if the small bug Pokemon could shrug, that was the expression he gave me.  
  
"He was caught by a trainer a few months back," Sage explained, moving into a more comfortable position on my hand. "I swore I would catch up with him, but I'm too weak to fly there myself, and I could never get any trainer's attention."  
  
"Do you want to come with us?" Flores asked quietly, shocking me. I spun around to look at her, and Sage jumped out of my hand in shock. "S-Sorry, I don't know what came over me." She muttered, and I shook my head.  
  
"Don't apologise. I was just surprised, is all." I explained, before turning back to Sage. "The offer is open."  
  
"Sure! I'd love to!" He exclaimed, fluttering to and fro. "I've got to catch up with Thyme sometime!"  
  
Nodding, I took a Pokeball out of my backpack and held it out to him. With a beep, Sage entered the pokeball, the newest addition to the team. Leaning down, I pet Flores a few times in thanks. She seemed embarrassed but pleased. Standing back up, I sent the rest of the team to meet the new member.  
  
"Hi, all! I'm Sage. Good to meetcha!"  
  
"Hi, Sage! I'm Lani, lieutenant of this rag-tag squad!" The water-type greeted, waving a flipper.  
  
"Ranger." The grumpy bird muttered on my shoulder, and I rolled my eyes.  
  
"I am Sir Iro, retainer to Lady Kaia." The mouse replied with a slight bow.  
  
"and I'm Kaia." I laughed, before looking down to the Grimer. "And you've already met Flores."  
  
"Howdy everyone!" He replied, fluttering in a circle. "Let's have fun!"  
  


* * *

  
  
Sage was eager to demonstrate his knowledge of the surrounding area and insisted on showing me one of his favourite spots. It took about an hour of hiking, but we quickly arrived at a small alcove in the forest. We walked into the underbrush for a good minute or so, with only his small yellow body to contrast against the overwhelming amount of green in here. Finally, we stepped out of the brush, and I felt my breath disappear from my lungs.  
  
We were standing on the cliffside, with a perfect view of the sea. The dark blue ocean lapped against the rocky surface of the cliff directly below us, and the sheer immensity of it shocked me. The water, a good forty feet below at least, looked rocky yet soft, menacing yet beautiful. There was something about this place that just captured my mind.  
  
"Do you think Thyme is out there somewhere?" Sage asked me quietly, landing on my shoulder.  
  
"I'm sure he is." I murmured, enraptured by the open ocean. Sage let out a tiny sigh, shuffling slightly, and followed out to the ocean again.  
  
"Do you think we'll go out there?"   
  
"...Yes." There was no doubt in my mind.


	6. six: the oracle and the monster

_your good intentions are sweet and pure  
_ _but they can never tame a fire like yours_

 

We arrived at the Pokemon Center that evening. Compared to the Pokemon Center in Hau'oli City, the mood here was quiet, sombre. Sage explained that humans grieved for their dead here, in a small field out back. The Pokemon Center was standard, red roof and white walls, but the energy coming from the place was clear as the night sky.  
  
Graveyards. I've never been a fan. People come to talk to their lost family, lost loves, lost Pokemon who are unable to respond or even hear. How is it possible to move on from something if you constantly remind yourself of its loss?  
  
Still, I wasn't sure why, but I went back there before I even entered the centre. It was silent, with only a few shapes moving throughout the candlelit field. Stones were lined in rows, indicating the positions of the rotting corpses that were once these peoples' friends and Pokemon. The entire field was lit up by candles, casting an eerie glow across the stone slabs.  
  
I walked down the row, reading the names that marked the tombstones. Markus. Varia. Kris. I stopped at the last one. The markings were crudely drawn, childlike, almost illegible, but read 'Mickey the Lillipup'. Something about that hit me hard in the chest.  
  
"Are you here to see someone in particular?" A voice whispered from behind me, causing me to jump out of my thoughts. "I can help you if you'd like."  
  
It was an older woman, no younger than fifty, her face orange from the nearby candle. Her eyes sparkled an eerie purple, most likely due to the interference from the candle, but it was enough to cause my skin to prickle with goosebumps.  
  
"No... I'm just looking." I explained, glancing at Mickey's grave. "Call it a morbid curiosity. You?" I asked, glancing back.  
  
"My husband, Charles." She replied, not elaborating further. After a few moments of silence, she leant forward, taking a closer look at me. "Would you like your fortune read, dear?"  
  
"Excuse me?" The question confused me, causing me to shrink back slightly. Mediums and fortune-tellers weren't unheard of, but they were regarded with a certain level of fear due to their rarity and power.  
  
"Just a hobby of mine." She replied with a laugh, her head moving away from mine again. "It's no worry if you don't want it."  
  
I shuffled away from her slightly, feeling uncomfortable. There was something about the situation that caused a shiver to cross my spine again, and I was eager to leave.   
  
"Well, it was good to meet you, but I should be going." I murmured, turning away from her and taking a few steps towards the Pokemon Center.  
  
"I'm sorry to bother you, but I do have one request." The woman spoke up again, and I glanced back. "Will you take one of my husband's Pokemon with you?"  
  
I blinked, surprised. "Me? Why?"  
  
"You have a grand destiny, child, I can sense it even without a true reading. Charles would have wanted Varia to be a part of that." She explained, extending the pokeball to me.  
  
I inhaled, a thousand thoughts pouring through my head at once. This woman put me on edge, but I wasn't one to disrespect the wishes of a dead man. Besides, having another Pokemon on the team wasn't a bad idea. Somewhat reluctantly, I reached out and took the Pokeball from her. She smiled as I did so, her pearly whites shining in the candlelight.  
  
"Thank you." She murmured, before turning away and shuffling away from me.   
  
I glanced at the pokeball in my hand. 'I wonder what Pokemon this is?' I thought, casting a glance over the graveyard once more. Shrugging, I turned around and left the spooky place.  
  
Entering the Pokemon Center just a little away from the graveyard, I looked down at the Pokeball in my hands again. Sighing, I released the Pokemon, interested to see what I had received.  
  
To my surprise, a tiny little thing emerged, barely bigger than Sage. Its skin was a dark blue, and it had tiny little wings that extended from its smooth back. Its face was rounded and small, with no visible eyes and a minuscule mouth. I recognised it as a Zubat, though I had never seen one in person.  
  
"Hey there, little guy or gal." I greeted, holding it in the palm of my hands. "My name's Kaia. Welcome to the team!"  
  
<<Hi!>> It greeted, its voice sounding garbled and strange. <<I'm Varia. It's good to meet you!>>  
  
I stuck my finger in my ear, attempting to hear her properly. "Sorry, I'm having trouble hearing you," I explained.  
  
<<Well, I've never spoken to a human before, but that would probably be my echolocation at work.>> She replied, shuffling slightly. <<I need to use it all the time. Even now, I only have a vague idea of what you look like.>>  
  
I nodded, before reaching for one of my pokeballs and releasing it as well. Sage emerged, grinning at me.  
  
"Hi, Kaia!" He glanced around, before noticing the creature in my hands. "Oh, who's this?"  
  
"This is Varia. Since you're both new, I figured you two could stick together, especially since she has a hard time seeing." I explained as Sage fluttered up to get a better look.  
  
"Sure thing!" He squeaked, turning to face our new team member. "I'm Sage. Good to meetcha!"  
  
<<Varia. Nice to meet you too.>> The Zubat replied, shifting in my hands to turn towards the young Pokemon. <<We don't see many Cutiefly in the graveyard.>>  
  
I watched them converse with a slight smile before I felt it slowly fading. Glancing around, my eyes scanned for Hau and Lillie. Sighing, I glanced towards the clock. 9pm.   
  
"Well, let's go get a room, guys. We're meeting Ilima at the Verdant Cavern tomorrow, bright and early." I muttered, placing Varia on my shoulder and making room Sage to flutter beside me.  
  


* * *

  
  
Bright and early indeed. I stepped into the crisp morning air just as the clock struck seven, with my team all standing by my side.  
  
"So... the malasada guy and the blonde girl never showed up last night?" Lani asked, receiving a nod from me.  
  
"That's odd. Lady Lillie seemed like a very punctual girl when I met here." Iro murmured, turning to Lani. "Sir Hau... not so much."  
  
"...Maybe they got lost?" Flores murmured, gaining the attention of Iro, who turned to her as she spoke. "I-it was just a thought." She stuttered quickly, shrinking back from him. Her flower bobbed slightly on her head as she did so. I noticed briefly that it had begun to wilt.  
  
<<Well, I don't know either of them.>> Varia asked, startling the group slightly. No one had quite gotten used to Varia's specific methods of speech yet, even after having been introduced the night previous. <<Why does Missus care about them?>>  
  
"Yeah, I'm curious too, actually," Sage spoke up, fluttering to and fro. "This is the first I'm hearing of a Hau or a Lillie."  
  
"They're her buddies, I guess." Ranger murmured from his perch on my shoulder, glancing down at Lani. "She's too emotional, in my opinion. She just met them the other day." The critical bird gave me a sideways glance, gauging my reaction. This was met by a chorus of opinions from the group.  
  
"Enough talk. I'm sure they're fine." I finally spoke, silencing the ruckus. "We need to get a move on. Verdant Cavern is still decent ways away, and who knows how long the trial will take." With a nod, I retrieved Sage, Varia, Iro and Flores, and stepped down the Pokemon Center steps. With Lani in my arms and Ranger on my shoulder, we began our march.  
  
It was a rough trek, as the land began to transform from slight incline to rocky mountain. On occasions, several Pokemon exited their pokeballs to keep us company, but Ranger, Lani and I were the constants in a changing roster of party members.   
  
Finally, as the watch on my wrist read 10:04, we reached the trial site. As I caught my breath, I examined the area. It was a large cavern with a dark, gaping maw. The outside stone was crusted with moss, a brilliant green, that seemed to lead further into the cave. Ilima, pink hair and all, was standing outside the entrance, pokeball in hand. His Yungoos rested on his foot. It occurred to me that I still had no idea what a trial entailed.  
  
"Ah, Kaia. It's good to see you." Ilima greeted as he noticed me, moving towards me at a slow pace. "I expected you to be with your friend Hau when he did the trial."  
  
I blinked, surprised. "Hau has already completed the trial?"  
  
"Oh yes, him and that blonde girl. What was her name... Lillie?" The trial captain explained, his Yungoos chittering something at me that I didn't catch. "They came last night, at around seven."  
  
I was surprised for a couple of reasons. For one, I hadn't expected them to arrive so quickly, or to go for the Trial immediately. Also, Lillie even being interested in the trial was definitely news to me. 'I wonder what Pokemon she used. Nebby?' I thought to myself, glancing down at Lani. 'I wonder what kind of moves she knows.'  
  
"So. Do you know what you need to do when you get in there?" Ilima asked, looking me up and down. I shook my head slightly.  
  
"Alright, well it's quite simple." He began glancing backwards into the cave. "Inside this cave, there are three green gems with this insignia inscribed on them." He held up a rock with a strange circle-like symbol carved into it. "Your task is to retrieve these gems and bring them to the inner-most portion of the cave. There, a tough battle awaits you. If you succeed, you will have beaten the first trial."  
  
I nodded, before glancing down at Lani. She grinned at me, eyes wide with a mixture of excitement and nervousness. With an uneasy smile back at her, I looked up into the darkness of the cave once more. To my left, Ilima offered me a flashlight, not saying anything but a confident smile on his face. I took the flashlight in my right hand, placing Lani on the ground and leaving my dominant hand to throw Pokeballs.   
  
Taking a deep breath, I stepped into the cave.  
  


* * *

  
  
My footsteps echoed across the damp cavern floor as I entered, the light from outside slowly fading into pitch black. Clicking the flashlight on, I manoeuvred the light around my surroundings, attempting to get a better sense of the area.   
  
The moss that had permeated the outside of the cave was even more plentiful on the inside, hanging off the ceiling and walls like party decorations. The cavern itself was a large, spacious room, with large fissures slicing raised areas apart. Each of these areas was connected by a bridge or two, including a large log as one of them. Finding a safe spot, I released the rest of my team to prepare a strategy. Once everyone was out, I motioned for everyone to huddle up.  
  
"Alright, here's the strategy. Sage, Varia, we haven't done enough training together, so I'll be keeping you two on the sidelines." I explained, drawing a crude circle in the dirt with a nearby rock. "Some wild Pokemon can be dangerous, and I won't endanger anyone who isn't ready."  
  
Sage, who was fluttering alongside Varia, nodded. "That makes sense. We don't know what we'll be facing."  
  
<<Yes, it just seems like the smarter plan.>> Varia agreed, flying circles around us as she experimented with using her wings again. <<Though if you need me, I'm there to help.>>  
  
Nodding in agreement, I continued. "Ranger, Lani, you two are our veterans and our heaviest hitters," I explained, drawing two circles to represent them. "It would be smart to save you two for whatever awaits us in the inner chambers."  
  
"Makes sense." Ranger, perched on my shoulder, chirped in understanding. "I'll take it down before it knows what hit it."  
  
"Iro, Flores, that leaves you two to help me through the cavern," I explained, drawing the final two circles. "We don't know what threats lurk in here, and I want to save Lani and Ranger's strength."  
  
Iro crossed his arms, his face contemplative. "I agree, that works best." He murmured, glancing towards Flores. "I will protect you as best I can, Lady Kaia." Flores nodded in agreement, still too nervous to speak up.  
  
Taking a deep breath, I smiled each Pokemon individually. "Even though we've only been together a short while, you all feel like my family." I started, standing up from my squat. "This is my dream, to be a Pokemon Trainer, and I am grateful to each and every one of you for helping me fulfil it." I grinned, sweeping the drawing on the ground away with my shoe. "Let's do it!"  
  
Quickly, I retrieved my team, aside from Flores and Iro. Giving them both a nod, I strode confidently further into the cavern, flashlight shining ahead. It was quiet for a few moments as we walked, only the sounds of my feet slapping on the damp stone.  
  
"Lady Kaia, look out!" Iro shouted, gripping me by the leg. I jerked back, pointing my flashlight at the ground in front of me. Not three inches ahead of me was an extremely steep drop, the stone cliff leading down to a small river below. As I shined my light, a green glitter shined back at me from the raging water.  
  
"Whew. Thanks, Iro." I murmured to the Rattata, sitting down on the ledge. "I think there's a gem down there. Flores, is there any way you could slide down there?"   
  
"N-no, sorry. Grimer don't mix well with water." She explained quietly, moving past me and peeking off the edge slightly.  
  
"It's no worry, Lady Kaia, Lady Flores." Iro intervened, stepping in front of us and beginning to descend down towards the water. "We Rattata are rather good at climbing."  
  
It took a few minutes, but eventually Iro reached the water, pulling the gem out from the rapids. He climbed back up slowly and plopped the green gem into my hands. The circle insignia was emblazoned on the front.  
  
"One down, two to go," I exclaimed, patting Iro in thanks, who looked slightly embarrassed. Flores smiled at him shyly, as he gave her a bow. "Let's keep moving."  
  
The three of us shuffled along in the dark, and this time I was watching my step much more closely. We moved at a slow pace, careful crossing the rope bridges as they eagerly swung too and fro overtop of the ravine. It was in the middle of our third bridge that something chomped on my leg.  
  
"Ow!" I screeched, falling over and shaking the bridge. "What was that?"  
  
"K-Kaia, what's wrong?" Flores asked me, placing a goopy hand on my stomach.   
  
"S-something bit me," I muttered, getting to my knees. "Where's Iro?"  
  
Listening carefully, I heard a scuffle up ahead. Crossing the bridge as quickly as possible while limping, I shined my flashlight at the ground in front of me, surprised to see Iro scuffling with a nearly identical match to him. Flores, reacting first, flung some gunk at the non-Iro, causing it to retreat away from him and screech at the young Grimer.  
  
"Blood traitor! Human-lover!" It screeched, now looking at Iro. "You are a disgrace to your species."  
  
"Your insults don't hurt me, Norial," Iro growled, standing up from his position in the dirt. "You are a scoundrel and a fool."  
  
"Nyah, I'll leave the boss to deal with you then, Lucial." The other Rattata replied, stroking its dark fur before darting away from my vision. Glancing back at me, Iro held out a second green gem.  
  
Taking it from him, I brushed him off as best as I could. "Lucial?" I asked curiously, only to receive a vigorous headshake from him.  
  
"Please, no, I prefer Iro much more." He muttered, before turning to Flores with a small smile. "Thank you for your aid, Lady Flores."  
  
"'Twas nothing." She replied timidly.  
  


* * *

  
  
We reached the back end of the cavern after about another two minutes of shuffling around in the dark. In the wall, there were three gem-shaped holes and a button. Beyond that, there was a large, overbearing rock blocking what appeared to be a pathway further into the cave.  
  
"Huh. We must have missed one." I muttered, glancing at the two stones in my hand.  
  
"Here." The voice was unknown to me, echoing from behind me, and I whirled around, shining my flashlight directly into the stranger's face, much to their dismay.   
  
Getting a closer look at the stranger, the first thing I noticed was her hair. It was an odd lavender colour I had never seen before. Her skin was as pale as snow, and she wore a dark pantsuit with a long black tie. As I lowered the flashlight from her face, she removed her hands from her face, smiled at me, and extended her hand, revealing a green gem glittering in the light.  
  
"Sorry to startle you. My name is Anabel." She greeted, giving me a slight bow. Iro and Flores had stepped behind me, though Iro seemed ready to pounce at any moment. "I was just following you to make sure you didn't get lost, and I noticed you kicked this with your shoe a little while earlier and missed it."  
  
I blinked, unsure how to respond. By the way Ilima spoke, I had assumed it was a closed area, so as not to interfere. Still, I suppose it made sense to have someone follow at a distance to ensure no one got lost. Reluctantly, I accepted the emerald from her, stowing it in my bag.  
  
"Are you allowed to do that? I thought it was like, a challenge or something?" I asked, my toe tapping the ground. "Also, how can you see in here? I know there wasn't another flashlight."  
  
With a laugh, Anabel snapped her fingers, and a purple incorporeal spectre appeared beside her. Despite struggling to see it, I recognised it as a Mismagius. "Magi helps me see in dark places."  
  
"Well... thank you. I should be... finishing the trial now." I muttered awkwardly, nodding before stepping back slowly. This woman had a... vibe about her that caused the skin on my back to prickle.  
  
"Seven is a lucky number," Anabel muttered, causing me to halt in my tracks. "Seven of us now. I wonder which you'll be. Oh, was I talking out loud? Sorry, my bad. Anyway, I'll leave you to it." The purple-haired woman said, waving as she turned back into the darkness, her shoes clattering against the stone as she disappeared.  
  
I stood stunned for a moment, attempting to process what just happened.   
  
"That... was weird," Flores spoke first, and I sighed in agreement.   
  
Walking back over to the holes in the wall, I slid each of the three stones, including the one I received from Anabel, into their respective slots. As the third one slid into place, the rock blocking the entrance slid slowly to the side with a loud creak, leaving the passage revealed.  
  
"Well, looks like this is it," I exclaimed, turning to my Pokemon. "Thank you for your help, guys. Get some rest."   
  
I gave them a big grin before returning them to their Pokeballs. As they did, my grin faded to a look of determination and fear. Turning to face the new passageway, I took a deep breath before entering.  
  


* * *

  
  
The sun was the first thing that I noticed as I stepped out into the small field, causing me to shrink back in shock. As my eyes adjusted to the sudden light, I glanced around the field, observing my surroundings. It was a small field, not even twenty-five feet across, surrounded completely by stone, with several ledges lining the walls. A few trees were scattered across the field, and near the back wall, there was a strange altar. Remembering Ilima's words about a dangerous enemy, I released Lani and Ranger quickly.  
  
"So, you're ready for us now?" Ranger grumbled, glancing around the area, his eyes catching nooks and crannies I could have never seen.  
  
"How did it go? Is everyone ok?" Lani asked quietly, wringing her flippers together in unease, and I nodded to her in confirmation.  
  
Slowly, I walked forward, branches cracking under my feet. My skin prickled as a sense of unease washed over me. Things were quiet, surprisingly. I reached the altar with no issues. Inside the small statue, there was a strange gem, similar to the ones I found inside but pure white. It had the same inscription as the gems, an odd circle shape. I reached out slowly to grab the gem, my eyes almost entranced.  
  
"KAIA, DOWN!" Ranger screeched from behind me, before barrelling into me and pushing me to the ground a few feet away from where I was standing.  
  
Before I had a chance to question him, furious, a large, black creature slammed onto the ground where I had previously been standing. Currently laying on the ground, this thing's size seemed even more immense. Its fur was black as night, with a white underbelly. Its face was rounded, with large puffy cheeks and two very large front teeth. It was a Raticate, bigger than I had ever seen.  
  
Quickly, I scrambled back, slowly standing up. Lani was a few feet away, and she scrambled to my side, but Ranger was nowhere in sight.  
  
"Woah there, it's okay." I murmured, attempting to show peace in my body language.   
  
It screeched incomprehensibly at me, and as I raised my hand, its eyes focused on the bracelet on my hand. Immediately, it launched towards me, jaws outstretched. I darted to the side, causing it to slam into the wall behind me. Lani sprayed water at it feebly, soaking it but not seeming to affect it all that much otherwise.   
  
As it turned around, it screeched once more and glancing around I could see dozens upon dozens of Rattata lining up on the ledges that lined the walls. A few hopped off their perches, eager to help their leader. It launched at me again, and this time I had nowhere to run, as the Rattata cornered me.  
  
"Not on my watch."  
  
A bird swooped down, one I didn't immediately recognise, and slammed into the Raticate, knocking it out of the air. He was big, bigger than Lani even, with dark black feathers that, at one point, only covered the lower region of his body. The redness of his head had disappeared, and his beak had grown longer. His wings were also longer, actually big enough to keep him in the air.  
  
"Ranger... you evolved?" I exclaimed, a grin crossing my face.  
  
"Yeah, well, don't stare too much." He muttered, with a slight look of pride crossing his face. "Now, let's finish this."  
  
Ranger launched into his attack, slamming down on the Raticate once more with his head. Beside me, Lani seemed shocked at the change in her friend. After a moment, she leapt into action, spraying more water at the little Rattatas who were attacking Ranger.  
  
Counterattacking, the Raticate chomped into Ranger's wing, sending him spiralling to the ground.   
  
"Ranger!" Lani shouted, her face full of worry.  
  
As though the scream of the little Popplio was enough to shock him out of his downfall, Ranger recovered his flight, flapping in the air. With a cry, he slammed back down into the Raticate, knocking it onto the ground with a groan. All of the Rattata, seeing their leader defeated, fled almost immediately.  
  
I rushed over to Ranger, who had landed on the ground, his wing bleeding. "Don't worry, we'll get you to a Pokemon Center," I muttered, reaching into my backpack and grabbing the bunch of gauze I had picked up at the Pokemon Center last night. Carefully, I wrapped his wing. Afterwards, I gave him a hug.  
  
"Thank you so much, Ranger." I murmured into his feathers, much to his chagrin. "Without you, I would have been a goner."  
  
"Yeah, well, try not to get yourself killed next time." He murmured, moving his head away from me.  
  
"I'll do that." I laughed, standing up. Even standing, he was large, the top of his head reaching my stomach at least.  
  
Lani approached us slowly, giving Ranger a look up and down.   
  
"So... you're still Ranger then?" She asked quietly, to which he nodded. "You're so big! You better promise to give me rides around!"  
  
"Of course." He chuckled, though he squaked as she began climbing onto his back. "I suppose it helps that you are one of the smallest Popplio I've ever seen."  
  
As they laughed together, I approached the altar once more. Reaching my hand inside, I gripped the gem and pulled, removing it cleanly from the stone.  
  
"Alright, guys, I got what we came for. Let's get out of here."  
  


* * *

  
  
After navigating the dark cavern once more, I stepped outside, happy to never go inside a cave ever again. Ranger and Lani followed shortly, with her still riding on his back, though he was too weak to fly. Ilima noticed me and waved me over.  
  
"Kaia! I assume it went well?" He asked as I approached.  
  
"Yup," I replied, showing him the crystal. "Do I give this to you?"  
  
"Oh, no, that's yours." He explained. "It's fundamentally useless, but it shows you cleared the Trial. We call it Astralium."  
  
I nodded, stowing it in my bag.  
  
"You know, that woman you hired to watch over me in the cavern, she was a creepy one." I murmured, glancing back at the gaping maw of the cavern.  
  
Ilima blinked, surprised.  
  
"I didn't hire anyone to follow you. No one has come in or out since you left."  
  



	7. seven: softly, the light goes

_to the outside, the dead leaves laid on the lawn  
_ _for they died and had trees to hang upon_

 

"That's weird."  
  
"What's up?" Sage asked, the low buzz of his wings alerting me to his presence beside my ear.  
  
I was hunched over the crystal I received from Ilima's trial. The trial captain insisted that the crystal was useless, but I could feel an echo of power coming from it. Holding the crystal made this obvious. What wasn't obvious was how to unleash that energy.  
  
"Well, it's just... I thought my bracelet was used to communicate with Pokemon, but this gem..." I explained, holding up the faded-white bracelet. "It fits right into the open slot here."  
  
Slowly, I slid the gem into the empty opening, clicking it in place. I wiggled my wrist to demonstrate the perfect alignment of the crystal, and while Sage oohed and aahed, Varia seemed unimpressed.  
  
<<So?>> She asked, her head tilting my way from her perch on my shoulder. <<Weird coincidence.>>  
  
I shook my head. "No, I think this is important to the mystery. Kahuna Hala seemed to know more about my bracelet than he let on, and my cousin seems to think it can "power up" Pokemon." I explained, standing and pacing slightly. "I think Ilima is being coy with me."  
  
<<Who knows?>> She replied, her mouth parting in a yawn. <<But it doesn't seem worth it to sit in a Pokemon Center for hours, not making any progress.>>  
  
I sighed, glancing up at my surroundings. The Pokemon Center was bustling with people now, being later in the evening, and many had begun checking into sleeping quarters. The sheer amount of Pokemon here were incredible. Most were native to Melemele Island, but at one point, someone came in with a Dragonair, and even I had to go see it up close.  
  
Another two figures entered the Pokemon Center, causing me to glance away from the palooza of Pokemon hanging out in the Lobby. I was surprised to see Hau and Lillie, their clothes dirtied and their faces scratched, but they were in the heat of a conversation, Lillie pouting slightly and Hau laughing. The next thing I noticed was the fact that Hau seemed to be limping, and was resting his weight on Lillie. Quickly, I stood up and rushed over to help.  
  
"Hau, Lillie!" I exclaimed, rushing to the other side of Hau and taking the weight off Lillie. "What happened?"  
  
"Oh, we were exploring Route 3, and a bunch of wild Yungoos attacked." Hau explained, a slight laugh playing across his lips. "One managed to mangle up my ankle before Tsuo managed to defeat it.  
  
I nodded, turning my gaze away from them. I was behind, then. Maybe Varia was right, wasting time here wasn't smart.  
  
"How did your trial go, Kaia?" Lillie asked from the other side of Hau, turning to me.  
  
"Oh, good. It wasn't too difficult, I don't think." I murmured, still sad they hadn't waited up for me. "More importantly, I hear you completed the Trial as well? When did you get a Pokemon?" I was excluding the one she kept in her bag, but she seemed to have gotten the message.  
  
"O-oh, I guess it's been a while since we've seen each other." She murmured, a faint red glow piercing her face. "Hau helped me catch one the other day. A Cottonee. She's... cute, I guess."  
  
"You don't seem jazzed."  
  
"No, she's awesome! It's just... hard to communicate with your Pokemon, you know?"  
  
I didn't push the subject.  
  
"You defeated the totem Pokemon? It was even hard for me, and I've had a few days more experience than you." I asked, finally reaching the receptionist. "Hi, could we get someone to look at this one's ankle, please?"  
  
"Of course! Right this way, sir." The receptionist motioned, causing Hau to let go of us and hobble over to her.  
  
Returning to the conversation, Lillie scratched her arm, embarrassed. "Well, it was still pretty beat-up from Hau's match." She explained with a laugh. "I'll probably leave that stuff to you two in the future. Saying I beat one is good enough for me."  
  
I nodded, and opened my mouth to speak once more, but stopped. I was about to ask why they left so early the other day, but...   
  
'Nevermind, it's not worth it.' I thought, closing my mouth.  
  
We stood side-by-side awkwardly for a few moments, unsure what to say.  
  
"Welp." I coughed, glancing at the sleeping quarters. "I'm going to get up early tomorrow, to get a headstart on Route 3. You two are welcome to join me."  
  
"Thanks for the offer, but I really need to deliver this research back to the professor tomorrow." She explained. "He's been understanding about me exploring the island, but I don't want to push it."  
  
"Yeah, well, tell Professor Birds-for-Brains I said hello," I muttered, receiving a slight disapproving glance from Lillie. "Night. Tell Hau I said I hope he feels better."  
  
She waved goodnight as I returned back to my table, where Varia and Sage were waiting.  
  
"So... those humans were Lillie and Hau, I'm assuming?" Sage asked curiously. "Missus Hau's hair is as pretty and yellow as the sun."  
  
I laughed slightly at this, running a finger across his fur. "That's Lillie, silly."  
  
"Oh."  
  


* * *

  
  
"Woo! Route 3!" I shouted, finally having completely the hike to Route 3 for the second time. "There's got to be all kinds of new Pokemon here!"  
  
"Be cautious, Lady Kaia," Iro mentioned, standing tall at my side, his eyes on the sky. "There are foes everywhere, here."  
  
"I-I've never known another Grimer to go this far across the island." Flores murmured quietly, her eyes soaking in the sights as much as mine. Her flower bobbed delicately on her head.  
  
We had technically already hiked towards Route 3 when we went to the Verdant Cavern; it sat near the border between the two routes. They were mostly distinguished by the change in terrain. Whereas Route 2 was mildly hilly and green as far as the eye could see, Route 3 transitioned into a full-fledged mountain, with the terrain getting rocky and brown, while slowly increasing the incline further and further. After a few minutes of an incredibly steep incline, you reach the top which is a long cliffside bordering the sea to the right and the forest, which houses the bridge I saved Nebby on, to the left.  
  
"You're right, Iro." I nodded to him. "Still, we should see if we can find any cool Pokemon."   
  
We made our way further into the route, finding a small piece of green grass near the sea-side cliff. Looking around, I stopped dead in my tracks as something entered my field of view.  
  
"Holy shit, a Mankey!" I murmured excitedly, causing Flores and Iro to look where I was pointing. "They lived right outside my old home. I saw this cute female one every day and tried to feed her food all the time. Let's try catching it!"  
  
Iro and Flores glanced at each other, before nodding in agreement.  
  
"Alright, Iro, you hop in there..."  
  
"Actually, would you mind if I try?" Flores asked quietly, shocking both myself and the Rattata t my side. She looked embarrassed to ask the question.  
  
"Lady Flores, are you sure?" Iro asked, stepping towards her and resting a paw on her shoulder, a look of concern in his eyes. "It could be dangerous."  
  
"No, it's weird, but I want to give it a shot." She shrugged, looking towards the ground. "Just to see."  
  
I nodded in agreement. "Alright, well... go for it."  
  
Flores slid her way towards the Mankey, who looked up, a look of fury in its eyes. She immediately smacked it, before it slammed its fist directly into her face.  
  
"Flores! Are you okay?" I called from the sidelines.   
  
She nodded. "Yeah, just a scratch."  
  
But then it howled. This howl sent a shiver down my back, because even though my bracelet didn't seem to allow me to understand wild Pokemon, even I could understand what this cry meant.  
  
It was a call to battle.  
  
Immediately, three more Mankey emerged from the cliff-face below, surrounding Flores. The boss Mankey smirked at her slightly, before they all proceeded to pound into her. I recognised these tactics. This was the same strategy the Totem Raticate used.  
  
"Lady Kaia, let me help her!" Iro shouted, glancing from me to Flores and back, watching her struggle to hit the surrounding foes.  
  
"No, I can't, Iro. These are fighting type Pokemon." I explained while watching this event unfold in horror and fear. "Before, I was certain you could take one punch, which was all I needed. Getting hit with four or more is a death sentence."  
  
"Well, we can't just leave her out there!" He growled, staring down one of the Mankey.  
  
"We won't, I have a plan," I explained, the gears clicking in my mind. "Flores! Keep it up, you're doing great!"  
  
"I-I will, Kaia." She grunted, taking another punch to her goopy skin.  
  
Quickly, I reached into my bag, grabbing one of the Pokeball within. Turning around, I noticed the leader, bigger than the rest, moving away from the group, seemingly wounded. This left a huge hole in their ranks, though it was in the opposite direction from me, but it was still helpful. Flores began making her way out of the open section, but they didn't close it, only prevented her from passing them on either side.  
  
Quickly, I threw the Pokeball, which subsequently absorbed the wounded Mankey, before the small light flashed, indicating a capture. Ecstatic, I jumped in the air for joy.  
  
"Lady Kaia!"  
  
Whirling around, I noticed Flores struggling to return to me, the mob of Mankey still blocking my line of sight to her. I reached for Flores' Pokeball and attempted to return her to it, but couldn't get a good connection between the ball and the Grimer.   
  
I was confused on what the Mankey were doing. They seemed to be willingly leaving a hole in their ranks but prevented Flores from moving around them. This left her with only one way to move. Suddenly, it all clicked for me.   
  
"Flores, no!" I shouted, attempting to use the Pokeball once more, but it failed. I could only sit and watch.  
  
The Mankey surrounded her, forcing her closer and closer to the cliff. Flores seemed to realise what was happening to her partway through, but there was nothing she could do. Using their fists, they beat her and slowly pushed her towards the very edge. Together, using all of their strength, they slammed into her, sending her tumbling off the cliff-face.  
  
I was briefly aware of Iro yelling to Flores at my side, but my ears grew numb, ringing in shock. I reached my hand out to where the Grimer disappeared, weakly calling her name, but I couldn't even hear myself. Suddenly, my eyes were drawn towards my outstretched wrist, where my bracelet sat, the gem still in it. It had begun to glow.  
  
The next few moments seemed to happen in slow-motion. A burst of white energy exited the gem, dulling it, but the energy travelled towards Iro, slamming him full in the chest. Immediately, he was glowing slightly white, and I heard him roar in rage. He launched himself at the pack of Mankey with the speed of a bullet, slamming into them. He proceeded to obliterate them, using bites and kicks and scratches, before my vision returned to normal. The three Mankey, though alive, picked themselves up and limped away, clearly bested.  
  
My mind returning to me, I reached for my Pokemon, releasing Ranger. "Ranger, go rescue Flores! She fell down the cliffside!" I exclaimed, pointing to the spot where Flores disappeared. Shocked, he flew away immediately, flying straight down towards the spot where she fell. Iro collapsed near the cliff, staring down into the blue ocean.  
  
After a few minutes of dead silence, Ranger returned, an object in his talons. He shook his head at me and laid the object down in front of Iro. I moved to get a good look at it.  
  
A small flower, crumbled in on itself from the crashing waves.


	8. eight: forget-me-not

_and i would do it for you, for you  
_ _baby, i’m not moving on  
_ _i love you long after you're gone_

 

"Kaia..."  
  
"I don't want your pity, Nate." I murmured into the cell phone, hot against my wet cheek. "I just want to know if something like that ever happened to you."  
  
"...Once or twice." He replied, his voice awkward and uneven. Even on the phone, I could tell he was struggling to approach the situation. "It's never easy."  
  
"My Rattata refuses to come out of his Pokeball," I explained further, glancing around at the plain Pokemon Center room. "He blames me, I'm sure of it."  
  
"He'll get over it." Nate sighed, a slight cough echoing through the room. "I once lost a friend, a Ninetales named Valerie, and Lucky wouldn't acknowledge my presence for days."  
  
"At least Lani has been supportive, but Ranger, my Trumbeak, he doesn't even seem to admit that something is wrong," I explained, curling myself up into a ball on the sheets.  
  
"You talk like they can speak." He replied with a small chuckle. "I'm sure everyone is still in shock. This only happened, what, four hours ago?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Just relax. I'm sure none of them blame you. Get a good rest and try to recover from it tomorrow." The cellphone call ended with brief goodbyes, both attempting to avoid the awkwardness from entering our conversation.  
  
 _I_  blamed me. If I hadn't been so focused on catching the Mankey, I would have been able to save Flores. I was so caught up in my nostalgia, I failed to see the true danger before it was too late.  
  
He's a male Mankey, and I named him Luso. He seemed... silent. He didn't really talk to me nor Varia nor Lani, despite us prodding him for a few minutes. I don't have the heart to put him on the team, though. Not after what he did. I sent him to my mum's lab in Heahea City, where she promised to watch over him.  
  
<<You still haven't told Sage, Kaia.>>  
  
I blinked, looking at Varia, who rested on my bedside table.  
  
<<He deserves to know.>> She sounded tired. My mood probably wasn't helping her.  
  
"I don't want to cause him more pain, Varia," I muttered, turning away. "He already lost his mother, and his brother is probably dead."  
  
<<Doesn't matter what you want. It's not fair to him, you or Flores, and you're going to have to do it at some point anyway.>> She shuffled slightly, nestling down once more.  
  
I sighed and reached over towards my Pokeball Belt. I glanced at the six Pokeballs hanging there. The button on one of them was a dark black, indicating an unused and broken Pokeball. Flores'. Another was grey, and no matter how many times I clicked it, it wouldn't open. Iro's. Another was enlarged and had a grey button, indicating the Pokemon was already out. Varia. I reached for Sage's Pokeball, marked with a small name tag I carved in, and released him.  
  
"Hi, Kaia! Hi, Varia!" He exclaimed as he appeared glancing between the two of us. "Wow, it sure is late. How did the hiking trip go?"  
  
<<Kaia has something to tell you, Sage. It won't be easy, but you should listen.>>  
  
I gave her a small glare. "Sage... there was an accident today. Flores... Flores is gone."  
  
"You mean, she left?"  
  
"No, Sage. She's... she's dead." I murmured, glancing at the bedsheets. I couldn't bear to look at him. It was hard enough to do it in front of the rest of the Pokemon, but seeing that innocence fade from his eyes wasn't something I was looking forward too.  
  
"Oh.  _Oh._ " Silence permeated the air for what felt like minutes.  
  
Suddenly, I heard his buzzing grow closer as he flew towards me, before plopping down on my head. "I'm sorry you had to go through that, Kaia."  
  
I wasn't sure when I started crying, but I did. Eventually, I drifted to sleep, though the sobbing continued until I was in the depths of dreamland. The flower, already crushed by waves, was further smashed as I gripped it in the palm of my hand.  
  


* * *

  
  
The sunrise was surprisingly therapeutic. My eyes still stung from a night of sobbing, but when I woke up, it was almost impossible to cry. I sighed, resting my legs on the cold grass. It had only been two days since I sat here with Sage, promising to see all Alola had for us.  
  
"Sage thought I'd find you out here."  
  
I glanced back, finding Lani shuffling towards me, her face unreadable.  
  
"Hi." I murmured, glancing back towards the emerging sun.  
  
"How are you feeling?" She asked, her head moving under my arm and nuzzling it.  
  
"...Odd." I replied honestly, my head still stuck in my thoughts. "Even though we've only been together a few days, I feel closely connected to all of you. You're my partners. It's an odd feeling, to be without one forever. Especially since it was my fault."  
  
"No, it was no one's fault." She stared me down, her eyes serious. "Accidents happen. Even the Mankey were just following their instincts."  
  
"I guess."  
  
We were silent for a while, watching the sun rise into the sky together.  
  
"Did you know Lani means sky in Alolan?" I asked her, and she looked up at me, surprised.  
  
"Really? Why did you name me that?" She asked, her curiosity poking through her melancholy.  
  
"Your pelt, it's colour was the same as the sky that day. It felt like a good way to honour my Alolan heritage, even though I was raised in Kanto and my dad is Kantonian." I explained, my eyes glancing down at the waves.  
  
"Does Kaia mean anything in Alolan?"  
  
"...It means the Sea."  
  
"Oh. That's kinda funny, considering I'm a water type."  
  
I laughed, scratching the back of her head. "I guess so."  
  


* * *

  
  
"Iro... please talk to me."  
  
I had returned to the Pokemon Center, vitalized by my talk with Lani, and I was clutching Iro's pokeball in my hand, repeatedly pressing the faded button. Ranger sat on the Pokemon Center bench beside me, watching me struggle to talk to my own Pokemon.  
  
"He's not gonna come out, you know," Ranger muttered as he re-adjusted his feathers. "Just let him grieve."  
  
"I just want him to let me say my piece," I explained quietly, my eyes still stinging from the last night's rest.  
  
The Pokeball enlarged, before opening to reveal a bright white light, sending Iro out of the Pokeball onto the table in front of me. He crossed his arms, staring me dead in the face. His eyes were red, too.  
  
"Well?" He growled, staring me down. "You want to say your piece? Say it. Say how you fucked up."  
  
I blinked, shocked. Iro had never spoken so callously in the entire time I'd known him.  
  
"I-I..."  
  
"Or, about how Flores is dead because of you?" He asked, chuckling to himself darkly. "Or maybe you're just going to  _apologize_. Get on with it."  
  
"Iro, I..."  
  
"This was a dumb idea." He growled, before pointing to the pokeball in my hand. "Send me back in, please."  
  
"Hey." I had almost forgotten Ranger was present as well, and he was glaring at Iro with the fury of a thousand suns. "Kaia may be a self-centered, insecure nerd, but you don't get to talk to her that way. She tried her best and she failed. Flores died. It sucks, and she was probably the only person or Pokemon in this ramshackle group besides Lani who I actually liked. You need to get over it, or stop making your own miseries everyone else's, especially when they have their own."  
  
I didn't even realise I had taken several intakes of air as Ranger talked, and Iro seemed as shocked as I was. The air was taut with hostility for a few moments, before Iro turned to me again.   
  
"Please put me back in the pokeball, Kaia."  
  
I did. Still stunned, I turned to my bird, my first capture ever, my friend.  
  
"Ranger..."  
  
"If you tell anyone what I said about you, I'm leaving." He growled, looking away.  
  
"But... how did you know all that stuff about me? You've only known me for a few days." I asked, stowing Iro's pokeball back on my belt.  
  
"I consider myself an observer, Kaia. You read a lot during our downtime, especially books on Pokemon." He explained, hoping off his bench. He still wouldn't make eye contact with me. "Your interactions with Lillie and Hau show me how much you look down on yourself, regardless of how you are actually perceived. You're sarcastic and rude, which I can appreciate, but it puts people off."  
  
I blinked, surprised. He was listing my negative traits, and yet his tone seemed to indicate an opposite opinion.  
  
"Thanks, Ranger."  
  
"Seriously, tell anyone and I will be out of here so fast, you won't even see the door close."


	9. nine: hooligans

_and everybody wants to get evil tonight  
_ _but all good devils masquerade under the light_

 

“Kaia! Kaia, look at me!”  
  
With a chuckle, I glanced up towards the sky, where Lani and Ranger were enjoying his new wings. The Popplio was sitting on his back, screeching in glee while he flew up and down. If there was one thing I knew about Lani, it was that she always knew how to keep smiling, even when something awful happens.   
  
We’d made our way back to Route 3, for the third time. After my talk with Ranger, I felt a sudden burst of energy, desperate to get past this roadblock. It was a rough hike, but we were managing.   
  
Varia shifted slightly on my shoulder as I waved to the flying Pokemon. <<Hey, careful.>>   
  
“Sorry, Varia. I guess I'm not used to having someone sit on my left shoulder. Ranger always sat on the right.” I explained as we walked, stepping over a large stone.  
  
<<I can move, if you’d like.>>  
  
“It's fine, don't worry about it.”  
  
I sighed, touching my Pokeball belt out of habit. It felt weird to only have five pokeballs. I sent Flores’ to my aunt, who said she would keep it safe. I grabbed Iro’s briefly, glancing down at it. The glass in the center was still dulled. I sighed, closing my eyes and turning away.  
  
<<He’s struggling with his nature, Kaia.>>  
  
I blinked, shifting to look at the purple bat on her arm. “What do you mean, his nature?”  
  
<<Rattata. They are mean-spirited by nature.>> She explained, her blind face swiveling towards me. <<Going through a trauma like that, it would affect anyone, no matter how much they’re trying to change.>>  
  
“Oh. Okay.” I replied quietly, shuffling my feet slightly. I knew Iro was struggling, but I didn’t even consider him dealing with other stuff.   
  
We continued walking in a stony silence, with only the flapping of wings breaking the stillness. It was as though Flores’ death had cast a shadow across us, tainting the entire adventure. I almost didn’t feel like continuing, if not for my stupid desire to prove myself. A faint sound caressed my ears, causing me to stop walking. “Wait. Do you hear…” I began to ask, with Varia nodding.   
  
<<Music.>> It was a strange beat, almost techno with accents of hip-hop, but I could clearly hear it echoing through the canyon. <<Something must be going on up ahead.>>  
  
Waving to Ranger, who acknowledged me with a nod, I ran forward, Varia lifting off my shoulder to flutter behind me. Being so high up, the wind began to batter my face, sending my ponytail flying. I reached up, gripping my hat to prevent it from falling off. I could see why so many flying types loved this place. Even Ranger seemed to be loving it.  
  
Eventually, we reached a small alcove in the cliff, leading into a cave of some sort. Ranger and Lani landed behind me, Varia taking her place on my shoulder. Listening into the cave, I could hear the music coming from within. Turning on the flashlight on my phone, I entered the cave, this music making me incredibly curious.   
  
After walking through the darkness for a minute or two, including descending for a decent amount of time, we arrived at the end, the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. The music was almost blaring now, and I stepped out of the cave. To my surprise, we were outdoors once more, in some form of meadow. Yellow flowers enveloped my vision, a field of them spread out as far as the eye could see. Also in view? A group of men and women, gathered in a circle, all wearing the same black clothes. Next to them, a boombox blared the music that had perforated my eardrums was blasting music as loud as possible.  
  
<<Dear god…>> Varia grunted, and I nodded in return, covering my ears slightly. They were definitely spooking the wildlife. As I stepped forward to ask them to kindly shut up, I noticed a movement from a goon’s leg, slamming into something. It squeaked in response.  
  
“O-ow, that’s not nice!” The voice, feminine and lulling, squealed in pain, somehow overpowering the music. Considering none of the posers reacted with anything other than a few snicker, I assumed this was a Pokemon, which made it my duty to step in.  
  
I took a step closer, tapping one of the dudes on the shoulder. “EXCUSE ME. WOULD YOU MIND TURNING DOWN THE MUSIC? YOU ARE SCARING THE WILDLIFE.” I asked, not  realizing how loud I was speaking. One of the girls, hair dyed a faded pink, glared at me.  
  
“Step off, loser. I’m busy trying to catch a Pokemon.” She explained, her eyes challenging. “Also stop yelling, it’s like, totally not cool.”  
  
I rolled my eyes, before moving over to the stereo and turning it off myself. This was clearly a major breach of conduct, as everyone went deathly silent. Glancing past them, I saw the pokemon they were abusing: a little Petilil. Her green leaves were scratched and leaking a strange yellow fluid. She did not look good.  
  
“That’s not how you catch a pokemon, you idiot.” I laughed, bravado passing across my face. My view of the Petilil left me very worried, but I knew confidence was the best way to approach bullies like this. “You should just leave catching to the pros. Like myself for instance.”  
  
“Oh, wrong move bitch!” She screeched, pushing past one of the other dudes. “No one screws with Team Skull! You and I are going to battle, right here, right now.”  
  
I laughed, hoping my fake confidence was enough to fool them. “Why would I battle an inferior trainer for no reward? If I win, you all have to leave this place, and I get to catch the Petilil.”  
  
“Fine with me, because I’m not losing.” She laughed, glancing to another female in the group in hopes of backup. “But if I win, you have to have to hand over one of your Pokemon!”  
  
I blinked, letting annoyance into my expression for a moment. “Which Pokemon?” Ranger glared at the group from behind me, before giving me a condescending look.  
  
“Well, that Popplio looks cute!” She giggled, causing Lani to shrink away, cowering behind Ranger.  
  
I considered it for a moment. Lani was my closest partner, and part of me was wary of losing her, even if I considered losing this battle doubtful. Still, this would be saving this Petilil from a lifetime of pain and an early death.  
  
“Deal.”  
  
She grinned wickedly, before motioning to the rest of the group to back away. Grinning, she released a Drowzee, yellow as the flowers around us, which seemed to stand with the same unearned confidence its trainer did. Briefly considering my options of who to send out in return, I was shocked to see one of my Pokeballs open all on its own, entering the field without permission. Iro.  
  
He looked much worse for wear than when I last saw him. He has scratch marks covering his body and face, wounds still red. <<He’s beating himself up.>> Varia commented curiously from my shoulder, talking quiet enough to not alert Iro. Even if she spoke louder, I doubted he would have heard her. His gaze was focused on the Petilil on the ground, and the Drowzee standing in front of it.  
  
Iro began attacking without me telling him to do anything. He slammed into the Drowzee, before scratching with a fury that I hadn’t ever seen from him. The Drowzee struggled to attack the rat, tossing psychic moves left and right in order to pin him down. It had no luck, and eventually fell. I expected Iro to relinquish, to stop after it had fallen. Instead, he continued, slashing and hacking at the unconscious Pokemon.  
  
“Hey, call off your rat, you already one!” The “Team Skull” girl shouted, and I shuffled nervously.   
  
“Iro, stop!” I shouted, moving towards him. He seemingly didn’t hear me, or didn’t want to hear me, and continued attacking the Drowzee, it had begun to bleed ferociously. “IRO, THAT’S ENOUGH!” I screamed, now running, before pulling him off with my bare hands. I felt his claws lay into me, and emitted a small sound of pain.  
  
“Bunch of freaks!” The girl yelled, calling her Drowzee back, before pushing past one of her friends. As I received glares of frustration and disgust, they all shuffled alongside her, heading through the tunnel back to Route 3. One gripped the boombox and lifted it onto his shoulders before leaving.  
  
Iro had settled down in my hands, and I immediately returned him to the Pokeball. I glanced down at my hands, surprised by the blood now dripping out of the wounds inflicted by Iro. I started to feel dizzy, steadying myself of the ground briefly. No time to be distracted by that now. I ran towards the injured Petilil, grabbing one of my potions from my bag.  
  
“O-oh, thank you.” She replied quietly as the medicine began to seal up some of the wounds on her body, and her breathing became more steady. “Thank you for helping me.”  
  
“It wasn’t a problem.” I replied, retrieving some bandages and sealing up some more wounds. “I’m just glad you’re alright.”  
  
“You seem much nicer than those Skull-whatever people.” She murmured, taking a deep breath. A long pause permeated the conversation as I wrapped her wounds, both of us unsure how to continue. “...My name’s Keyki.” She mentioned suddenly.  
  
“I’m Kaia.This is Ranger, Lani, and Varia.” I explained, humming quietly as I pointed to the group, hanging around a few feet away. “There’s also Sage, but he’s currently resting.”  
  
“Is that the dark-furred fellow?”  
  
“No, that’s… that’s Iro. He’s going through some issues right now.”  
  
“Oh. I just wanted to thank to him. For helping me.”  
  
I blinked in surprise. Iro’s actions had been so violent to me, I hadn’t had time to consider how this Petilil would have viewed it. Of course she’d be grateful to him. With a quiet sigh, I smiled. “I’ll be sure to pass the message on.” After a few minutes, I stood up, dusting myself off. In front of me, the Petilil’s wounds had mostly been healed or sealed thanks to the medicine and my handiwork with the bandages.   
  
“There you go! Good as new.” I laughed, before tipping my hat towards her slightly. “You take it easy now, okay?” I asked, and she nodded in response. Feeling good, I motioned to the rest to head over towards me.  
  
“Wait!” I heard Keyki call, causing me to turn around. She had hobbled behind me, and was staring at me intently. “Take me with you!”  
  
“What, why? Don’t you have family or something here with you?” I asked, surprised to see her enthusiasm. Part of me had hoped to have her join me, considering how handy a grass type would be, but I was resigned to having her stay here.  
  
“My reasons are my own. Just please let me come along!”  
  
“You don’t even know where we’re going!”  
  
“Still.”  
  
After a moment, I nodded. “Alright. Just take it easy, alright? Don’t want those wounds reopening.” As I said, a grass type would be really helpful, and here was one eager to help out.  
  
I just hoped I wouldn’t regret it.  
  



	10. ten: friendly fire

_light the night, i’m on fire, i’m on fire  
_ _even the rain won't put me out_

 

“Ooh, new person!” Sage exclaimed as we walked through the dark tunnel once more. “I’m Sage. Nice to meetcha!”  
  
Keyki smiled back at him. “Hi Sage! I’m Keyki.” She responded, hopping along the ground behind me. “I knew a couple of you Cutiefly. You guys made the best of friends.”   
  
“You know it!”  
  
We emerged from the cavern into the windy mountains of Route 3. The sun had already begun to set, and I was worried we would have to return back to the Pokemon Center again, but fortunately, I could see the mountainous region beginning to descend back towards Iki Town just a little bit away. ‘We might have to travel by night, but we’ll be fine.’ I thought to myself.   
  
As I began to head that way, a voice called out from behind me. “Kaia! Wait up!” Turning around, I was surprised to see Hau, bandage around his ankle, limp towards me. Lillie was nowhere in sight. As he approached, he saw all of my Pokemon full view, minus Iro of course, and his eyes widened. “Wow! You’ve got so many cool pokemon there!”  
  
“Thanks... “ I replied, before looking down at his ankle. “Shouldn’t you be resting that for a little bit?”  
  
“Nah, they said I was good to go, so long as I took it easy.” He laughed, rubbing his head slightly. I wasn’t entirely sure hiking could be considered taking it easy, but hey, it was his injury. “You left so early from the Pokemon Center, I didn’t get to battle you!”  
  
I nodded, surprised by the suddenness of the battle. “Alright, let’s do it now!”  
  
“Sure!” He grinned, before stepping farther away from me to leave room for the battle. The wind blew at his back, causing his hair to shuffle carelessly. Quickly, I recalled all of my Pokemon except Sage and Varia.  
  
“You ready, you two? First real battle!” I asked, a grin playing across my face. It was good to smile again.  
  
“You got it!” Sage responded, before moving onto the battlefield. Across from me, Hau released his Pikachu, eager to do battle. After a nod to each other, the battle commenced.  
  
“Sage, Struggle Bug!” I shouted, and Sage immediately darted towards the Pikachu.  
  
“Don’t let them do it, Pikachu! Stop it right here!” Hau shouted in response, and the Pikachu glowed with a yellow energy, before releasing a brightly colored orb towards Sage. It slammed into him, obscuring my vision of him. I bit my lip in anxiety.  
  
After a moment, he passed into my vision again, latching onto the Pikachu and latching onto it. This continued for a few moments, before the Pikachu eventually collapsed. As Hau retrieved it, Sage fluttered back to me, looking exhausted.  
  
“Did I do good?” He asked me quietly, completely drained of energy.   
  
I nodded, grabbing his pokeball. “Yeah, you did great.” He gave me a small smile, before returning to the pokeball.  
  
Glancing at Varia, she sniffed in response. <<My turn now? Alrighty.>> She hopped off my shoulder, fluttering casually as Hau sent out his next Pokemon: his Litten.  
  
“Varia, Supersonic!” I exclaimed, and Varia immediately began screeching in her normal voice, disorienting the Litten as soon as it came on the field. “Now, Wing Attack!”  
  
“Litten, Ember!” Hau exclaimed, but the Litten simply looked back at him, confused, as Varia swooped in and began barraging him with slaps from her wings.   
  
“Keep it up!” I yelled, and Varia renewed her assault with a new force. The Litten continued to try to hit her with Ember, but he seemed too disoriented to get a clear line of sight, causing the embers to fly everywhere else instead, hitting rocks and rocks and more rocks. Eventually, due to the exhaustion from being constantly berated by wings, as well as expending so much strength using Ember, the Litten went down. Varia flew back to me, a proud look on her face.   
  
“Well done, Varia.” I smiled, letting her land in my open hands.   
  
Across from me, Hau looked sheepish at his loss. “Wow, I mean, I didn’t think I’d win, considering the amount of Pokemon you have, but you wiped the floor with me by only using two.” He laughed, retrieving the Litten. “Congrats.”  
  
“Thanks! You did great too.” I giggled, giddy from my win, as I jogged towards him.  
  
Together, we both looked down the hill, towards Iki Town. “Our first Grand Trial is just down there.” Hau murmured, just as awestruck as I. “And it’s against my grandpa…”  
  
I nodded, steeling myself for the coming battle. I had a feeling it would be tougher than just the Totem Pokemon. “Yup.”  
  
“You know, ever since you met him, he’s been curious about you.” Hau mentioned, and I glanced towards him, surprised. “He’s asked me how you’re doing more than how I am doing!”  
  
I considered this for a moment. Why would Kahuna Hala care more about my journey than his own grandson’s? I could tell just from looking at Hau that he was not entirely happy about this.   
  
“Weird.”  
  
“Yeah, weird.”  
  
After a few awkward moments, I turned back to Hau again. “Want to walk down to town together?” I asked, watching his face. Surprisingly, any of the bitterness present there earlier had been wiped away.  
  
“Sure, sounds fun.” He laughed, before stepping forward, leading the way down to the place where our journey started.


	11. eleven: slowly, the dawn breaks

_and i’ve been feeling dead since you went away  
_ _you better believe what i tell you 'cause you're coming home_  

 

“Wow… this is a flashback, huh?”  
  
Hau grinned at me as we entered the dimly lit Iki Town. The sky was tinted orange as the sun slowly descended on the small village. People wandered to and fro, heading home from the city after a long day of work. An odd feeling burrowed inside of me, and I wasn’t entirely sure how to describe it. Pride? It felt good, returning here after probably the craziest week of my life.   
  
“Yeah,” I replied, voice hushed in awe as I watched people pass by us quickly, accompanied by all sorts of Pokemon. It occurred to me that the people of Iki Town were much closer to Pokemon than the people in Hau’oli City. My mind flashed back to the woman who attacked Flores. “It’s a little weird, honestly.” I chuckled slightly.  
  
“Well, if it isn’t the tardy ones!” A voice boomed down the street, and I looked up to see the Kahuna Hala approach us, his white hair and yellow coat standing out amongst the rest of people shuffling down the street. Kukui and Lillie flanked him on either side, Lillie looking nervous and Kukui looking dumb as always. Hau froze up beside me, before grinning nervously.  
  
Waving cautiously as they stopped in front of me, I looked down at the ground in shame. “Sorry.” I muttered, my eyes avoiding all three desperately.  
  
“It’s not a problem, Lillie told me about your… situations,” Hala explained, glancing at the bandage around Hau’s ankle. “Still, you both are in a rather unfortunate position. Most of the trial goers are already on to the next island, Akala, which is much larger and typically takes much longer. You’ll have to hurry if you intend to finish before the summer ends.”  
  
I paled, before glancing sideways at Hau. ‘There’s a time limit?’ I thought, my worry taking over slightly. ‘I mean, it’s called the “summer challenge”... I guess I just didn’t expect it to be 100% literal.’ I started to panic, rubbing my foot in the dirt to distract myself.  
  
Kukui seemed to notice my worry, and laughed slightly. “Don’t worry! I’m sure you’ll be fine. It’s a pretty generous time limit.”  
  
“Either way…” Hala continued, glancing between us impatiently. “You two are here for the Grand Trial, I’m assuming?” He asked, reverting to his patient self. “If so, we should get on with it immediately. Despite what Kukui said, people have run out of time before, and I’d prefer for my grandson and the Professor’s daughter to succeed.”  
  
“Step-daughter.” I corrected him under my breath, bitterness evident as eyes shifting to the side. Kukui seemed to notice, and his smile dimmed slightly.   
  
“Either way, we should do it now and get you two on a ferry for Akala.” Hala reminded, and I nodded. “Which of the two of you would like to go first?”  
  
Hau stared at me, grinning wildly. “Well, considering Kaia just kicked my butt, I’d say she’s a better bet. If she loses, at least I won’t have to bother!” He laughed, patting me on the back. He removed the hand from my back after seeing the glare I sent his way.   
  
“I’m excited to watch you battle again, Kaia!” Lillie exclaimed from behind the professor, sending me a small smile. Despite my nerves now being bundled in a knot, I couldn’t help but smile back. “You’re gonna do great!”  
  
I nodded, taking a deep breath. “Ok.” I replied, turning my gaze on Hala. “Let’s get it over with.”   
  
He nodded in return, a look of… pride revealing itself in his expression. “Do you need any time to prepare, or should we begin immediately?”  
  
“A little bit of time would be nice.”  
  
“Very well. Shall we say… in an hour?” He asked, rubbing his chin in thought.  
  
“That would be good, thanks.”  
  


* * *

  
  
“Kaia! You finally made it!” Nate’s voice called out to me as I walked down the path towards home. Of course, he was leaning against the door like he was ‘oh so cool’. His Arcanine was out, as per usual, but they both looked… excited to see me? That didn’t happen often. “We were worried something bad happened to you on the way here.”  
  
I shook my head. “Nope. Well, I guess there was this one thing, but it’s not really important.”  
  
Ranger, fluttering next to me, looked Lucky up and down. “Well, you’re a lot less intimidating than I remember.”  
  
“And you’re not a pipsqueak anymore!” The Arcanine replied, his mouth curling in something that resembled a grin.  
  
“Sorry, and who might this young man be?” Keyki lilted, her head tilting in curiousity. Lani sighed beside her.   
  
“This is Kaia’s cousin, Nate.” She explained, her eyes widening in what resembled fatigue. “He and Kaia have some weird love-hate thing going on. You know, cousin stuff.”  
  
“Ah. Well, he seems like a charming man.” The Petilil replied, to which Lani rolled her eyes.  
  
“So, you’re here for the Grand Trial, then?” Nate asked nonchalantly, his eyes moving away from me. “When is that gonna be? Tomorrow?”  
  
“No, tonight actually.” I replied, glancing at the ground. “In forty-five minutes.”  
  
“Wow, that’s really soon! Don’t you need to rest first or something?” He exclaimed, looking me up and down thoroughly now. From his worry, I could tell he noticed some of the cuts and bruises that hiking tends to cause.  
  
“I’m fine. Besides, Hau and I are already behind on our journey, we don’t really have much time.”  
  
Nate nodded, before glancing back towards the house. “Well, I’ll go see if Mom and Dad are able to come watch!”  
  
I paled slightly, my eyes widening. “W-what?”  
  
He stared at me like I was crazy. “Well yeah, the last time any of us have seen you battle, you only had your Popplio and Pikipek. I’m sure they’d love to see what you’ve got!” He laughed. “Besides, I’m pretty sure Ethan would kill me if he found out he missed a Pokemon battle.”  
  
Sighing, I stepped past him and made my way for the door. It let out its distinctive creak as I turned the knob, alerting the whole house to someone entering. I felt a cool brush of air rush past me as I entered the air-conditioned house. “Hello? Is anyone home?” I called into the empty living room.  
  
Immediately, I heard footsteps, fast-paced and excited, come echoing from down the hall. Before I could adequately prepare myself, Ethan burst into the room, running straight towards me. He wrapped me into a hug before I could even breath.  
  
“Kaia! You’re here!” He exclaimed, releasing me from his vice-like grip. “How was the journey?”  
  
“Well, I’m not exactly done yet, E.” I laughed and/or weezed, catching my breath. “I did beat the first Trial, though.”  
  
“Wow, really? Is it true that there were thousands of Pokemon that you had to fight off before they overwhelmed you, and a Raticate the size of a Pokemon Center that you had to defeat?” He asked, his eyes lighting up with wonder. Sighing, I glared at Nate as he entered behind me.  
  
“Really, the size of a Pokemon Center?” I asked incredulously, unsure how he thought he could get away with that.  
  
“Hey, he was the one who was gullible enough to believe it.” He whispered back, struggling to contain his giggles.  
  
“Is that Kaia?” A voice echoed from down the hall, and Aunt Fiora entered the room, her smile beaming. “It’s good to see you, dear.” She wrapped me in a hug, much softer than her son’s.  
  
“Hi, auntie.” I replied, waiting for her to release me from the hug politely. “How are you?”  
  
“I’m good, dear. It’s so good to see you!” She smiled, stepping away from me. “It’s only been a few days, and yet you look so much older!”  
  
“Ahah, I guess so.” I replied, feeling incredibly awkward with all this attention on me.   
  
At that moment, the door flew open behind me, and the tall form of Uncle David entered, a pokeball in his hand. His eyes widened dramatically. “Kaia! You’re home! Well, speak of the Delcatty.” He laughed.  
  
“Hi, Uncle. Good to see you.”  
  
“It’s good to see you too!” He chuckled heartily, stepping past his son and I. “Actually, I have a little bit of a surprise for you.”  
  
I turned my head, a goofy grin crossing my face. “A surprise?”  
  
“Yep! Here!” With that, he handed me the pokeball in his hand, and I looked back up at him. “Well, go on! Open it!”  
  
With a click, I opened the Pokeball, and with a flash of light, a small form soon appeared. With brown fur and a rock-like scruff, I instantly recognized it as a Rockruff. Kukui often had one that wandered around his lab. It looked up at me with a goofy grin.  
  
“They recently opened up the pathway into Ten Carat Hill, so I decided to catch this little guy as a present for when you returned home.” He was grinning as he spoke, but I had known him for a decent amount of time, and David was not exactly a secretive person. There was a dose of pity fresh in his eyes, and glancing around, I noticed a similar look in everyone else, aside from Ethan. Nate had told them about Flores. A pity present.  
  
“Oh… thanks.” I replied, picking him up in my arms. I felt my eyes begin to leak slightly against my will. “I can’t really think of anything to name him, so I guess I’ll just send him to the PC.” Returning the Rockruff to his Pokeball and grabbing my phone, I quickly deposited him. “Anyway, if any of you want to come see my Grand Trial battle, it’ll be in a few minutes. See you.”  
  
I rushed out the door past Nate, who seemed shocked at my sudden departure. I wiped a small drop of tears from my eyes as I stormed from the house. I guess I wasn’t as ok as I thought I was.  
  



	12. twelve: hearing it clear

_i live for this shit, i love the pain  
_ _it's part of the journey, it's part of the game_  

 _i’ve been alone in the dark and the rain  
_ _i’ve seen the end and i wasn't afraid_  

 _i’ve been in tears and i wasn't ashamed  
_ _i hear a sound and the sound that i’m hearing is change_

 

“Welcome, everyone, to this evening’s Grand Trial!” I heard the echoing of applause all around me, but my eyes were closed in thought. I could feel my stomach flipping with nerves. With a deep breath, I opened my eyes, observing my surroundings. Many Iki Town residents had gathered in the town square, where I had battled Hau for the first time, to watch my battle with Kahuna Hala. The torches were lit once more, and I could feel the pressure in the air. Briefly, I wondered if this was how my Dad felt whenever he challenged a gym leader. Of course, he didn’t have any time limit, either.  
  
“Tonight, our challenger, Kaia Stirling, wishes to pass the first Kahuna and move on to the second island! Let’s wish her luck, shall we?” A referee, dressed in a casual shirt, smiled at me. “Kahuna Hala shall use three pokemon determined to be at an appropriate skill level to island challengers of your level. You may use all the tools at your disposal to beat him.”  
  
I nodded, before staring down Hala. His smile from before had turned into a stoic face, and I could tell that he wasn’t planning on going easy on me. Suddenly, I noticed a white wristband wrapped around his arm, matching mine. ‘Uh… What is that?’ I thought wildly, glancing down at my own arm, where my own bracelet hung. Inside, the Ultra Crystal was still resting in the socket. Did Hala know how to use the crystal, in a way I didn’t?  
  
“Challenger! Call out your first pokemon!”   
  
I nodded, before glancing down at my feet. My pokemon had been returned to their Pokeballs, at the referee’s instructions, aside from Lani, who stared back up at me with determination in her eyes. “You’ve got this, Lani.” I told her, a nervous smile crossing my face.  
  
“You bet I do!” The Popplio replied, before jumping onto the battlefield, her blue shimmering in the low light.   
  
Hala nodded in respond, revealing a Mankey from his Pokeball. I shrunk back immediately, my mind flashing back to the moment Flores fell. I was stuck in some form of trance, replaying that moment, before Lani’s voice snapped me to attention. “Kaia, this really isn’t the time for this!” I flinched, before looking towards her, and noticed her staring back at me with a worried look. Nodding, I took a deep breath. She was right. I needed to freak out about that later.  
  
“Lani, use Disarming Voice!” I shouted immediately, and Lani leapt into action, opening her mouth to sing. “Take the hit, Mankey! Internalize it!” The Kahuna shouted, and I watched as the Mankey simply closed its eyes, before being hit with the blast of energy that came from Lani’s mouth.  
  
“Again!” I called, and she darted into action once more, using a screech to disorient the Mankey. However, she got too close, and the Mankey turned around and slammed its fist into her, sending her plummeting onto the ground. “Lani, careful!” I watched as the Mankey went for a second strike. I flinched, waiting to hear the bone-cracking sound of its fist making contact.   
Nothing. I opened my eyes, and there was a flipper holding back the fist, a silvery blue amongst the orange glow of the torches. Lani, or what I assumed was Lani, had caught the blow. She was beautiful, her dark blue fur now a shimmering turquoise, and three, ruffle-like growths from her body, resembling a dress. Her ears now appeared more feminine, forming into something like pig-tails. She had barely grown, but she looked older. Stronger. I recognized her as a Brionne, an evolution of Popplio, though I had never seen one in person. Around me, the crowd oohed and ahhed, stunned at the sudden transformation. Hala nodded, a smile crossing his face.  
  
“Not so fast.” Lani growled, still looking really injured, and suddenly darted out from underneath the Mankey’s fist, slamming into it with a burst of water. The Mankey fell to the ground with the sudden blow, out cold.  
  
“Round 1 goes to the challenger!” The referee called, moving his hand up towards me, and I grinned, watching Lani, newly evolved, hobble back over to me, a weary smile on her face.  
  
“You did awesome, Lani.”  
  
“Thanks. I feel like I’m about to pass out.” She laughed, but then really began to topple over. I reached down, picking her up. Somehow, she was even lighter than she was as a Popplio. I put her down at my side, before reaching for my next Pokemon.  
  
I had been watching Hala closely. My bracelet was what was probably giving me my power to speak with my Pokemon, and Hala had implied that was the case when he gave me Lani. But as I watched him, he didn’t seem to communicate with his Pokemon at all, not on the same level as Lani and I. It didn’t make any sense to me!  
  
“Challenger, please select your next Pokemon!” The referee called to me, and shaken from my thoughts, I released Ranger. The Trumbeak revealed himself in a blast of light, landing on the raised platform with a cry. He turned to me, a look of intensity in his eyes, and suddenly noticed Lani. He seemed momentarily stunned by her form change, before snapping to action on the battlefield. Across from me, Hala released a Makuhita, which shook itself as it entered the stage in order to intimidate us.   
  
“Ranger, attack first and get the upper hand!” I called as soon as the referee began the second round, and he let out a caw in response. “You got it boss!” With that, he flew into the air, before darting down towards the Makuhita.   
  
“Makuhita, don’t let it gain the upper hand!” Hala growled, and as soon as Ranger came within range, the Makuhita slammed its fist into his face, stunning him and ruining his assault.   
  
“Ranger! Recover, quickly!” I shouted, and that seemed to snap Ranger back to the land of the living, and he began unleashing several beak attacks against the Makuhita. The Makuhita attempted to block these attacks with his fists, but Ranger’s speed outmaneuvered him. On the last strike, something changed. Ranger’s beak began to glow, and extended, and as he slammed into the Makuhita, it made a deafening sound, and the Makuhita went down for the count. “The winner of Round 2 is the challenger!”  
  
I grinned as Ranger flew back to me. His eyes were full of pride. “You did good, buddy.” I laughed, putting my hand on his back. “How are you feeling?”  
  
“Still good! Let me go back in!” He chirped, and I nodded in response.  
  
“Woo, Kaia! That was awesome!” I heard a voice echo from the crowd, and I turned to see Ethan staring at me, awe filling his eyes. At his side, my aunt and uncle were there, alongside Nate and his Arcanine. Further behind them, I saw Lillie, Hau, and Kukui, all staring at me with varying looks of awe, excitement, and pride. Having everyone here, cheering me on, cheering US on, felt good.  
  
“Challenger! Your final Pokemon!” The attendant called, and I nodded to Ranger, who flew back into the ring. Hala nodded, before releasing his Crabrawler. Ranger was positively glowing, eager to continue battling. As I moved to shout an order, I noticed a small glimmer come from Hala’s side of the field.   
  
Before I could even react, I watched as Hala moved his hand towards the band on his wrist. A strange orange energy began flowing from the bracelet, infusing itself into Crabrawler. The crowd, which was fairly rowdy up until that point, went dead silent. The Crabrawler, infused with this weird energy, darted towards Ranger. For a moment, I was reminded of Iro facing off against those Mankey. Ranger didn’t have a chance to react, and the Crawbrawler began slamming its fists into Ranger at a speed I didn’t even know was possible, each strike glowing with orange energy. Finally, the energy seemed to subside, but Ranger was lying on the floor, dangerously wounded and covered in bruises.  
  
“Ranger!” I screamed, before he pulled himself up. The crowd was still silent, and I watched as Ranger glanced towards me, before nodding. “I’m alright.” He affirmed, much to my relief. “Though not for very long.”  
  
“Can you fight?” I asked, deliberating returning him to the Pokeball.   
  
He nodded. “Let me finish this.”  
  
Hala grunted, seemingly impressed with Ranger’s ability to withstand his flurry of blows. Ranger darted into the sky shakily, before beginning his divebomb once more. The Crabrawler seemed exhausted from… whatever just happened, and just barely failed to dart out of the way, Ranger’s new attack slamming into it and sending it skidding to the floor.  
  
“And the win goes to Kaia Stirling of Viridian City!”  
  



	13. thirteen: a changing tide

_can't you see that we're dead until we wake up  
_ _all your dreams are about to happen now  
_ _we are racing to the break of dawn_

 

Afterwards, I had to rush Ranger and Lani to the Pokemon Center. I apologized for not being able to cheer Hau on in his battle, but he understood, a grin passing over his face. “I’ll have a tough time following that battle up!” He laughed, and I laughed as well. The ball of nerves that had been wound up inside me had released all in one moment, and I hadn’t felt better in so long.  
  
As Lani and Ranger were getting checkups, a thousand thoughts began passing through my brain. Where did Hala get a “Z-Ring”, as Nate had called it? Could he tell me what its purpose is? How did he infuse energy into his Pokemon like that? These thoughts and a billion more passed through my head in the blink of an eye. In fact, I was so distracted, I didn’t even noticed one of my Pokeballs opening.  
  
“Kaia.”  
  
I blinked up, and felt my mouth hang open as Iro stood over me. His fur was still covered in scars, seemingly self-inflicted, but he held himself with a certain grace, one that he had been missing when I last saw him. “Iro.” I breathed, reaching out to touch a particularly long scar.  
  
“I don’t deserve your pity, Kaia.” He growled, looking down towards the ground. “What I did, what I said… it was awful.”   
  
“Iro… it wasn’t your fault! You can’t blame yourself for Flores’ death.” I responded, reaching out to touch another, but retracting my hand.   
  
“I’m not.” He responded. “I’m blaming myself for how I reacted. I reverted into old habits, and I treated you and everyone else horribly, even when I vowed that I would never again.”  
  
“Iro, we- we were all dealing with our grief, in our own ways.” I soothed. “None of us blame you, we were just sad that you were having such a hard time.” Well, Ranger might have blamed him, but that didn’t seem like the most poignant thing to say at the moment.  
  
“Well… I’m sorry. I’m going to do better now. I promise.”  
  
As we sat there in an awkward silence, my brain was filled with more idle thoughts, but these were different. I thought about what Varia said, concerning our natures. I wondered if it was possible to overcome them, like Varia insisted was possible, and that Iro was struggling to do. Hell, even I was struggling to overcome my nature. I had never had more than two friends before in my life, and yet somehow, I had two, plus a loving family, and for me, that took work. How I treated Kukui was me at my worst, but it was also me at my most natural. Suddenly, I turned to the Rattata, a small grin playing across my face.  
  
“So, we have a new party member that you’ve never even met!”   
  
“Oh?” He asked, looking at me curiously.  
  
Reaching into my bag, I grabbed Keyki’s Pokeball, releasing her into the Pokemon Center. As she revealed herself, she yawned slightly.  
  
“Oh, are we up? Oh, hello.” She responded, noticing Iro. “Oh, it’s you! You helped me! I wanted to thank you… Iro, was it?”  
  
“Yes, that’s me.” He laughed, leaping off the seat beside me towards the floor. “But I’m afraid, milady, that I do not know yours.”  
  
Keyki giggled at his manner of speaking, before doing a small curtsy, or as much of a curtsy as possible. “Well, milord, my name is Lady Keyki. It is wonderful to meet you.”  
  
“That goes for me as well.” He responded, a smile crossing his face.  
  


* * *

  
  
“I’m still not sure why you three have to rush off!”  
  
Aunt Fiora was pretty distraught as she met us in the harbor. “I mean, you only just finished your battle, and it’s already so late!” She gestured towards the full moon, now high in the sky. “Can’t it wait until tomorrow?”  
  
I looked towards Lillie and Hau, before shaking my head. “No, it’s very important we leave now, so we can start our journey around the next island first thing tomorrow.”  
  
“Plus I need to go get some research from the lab on Akala island, and it’s vital.” Lillie explained again, her bag shuffling slightly. It could be mistaken for the breeze, but I knew better, and shot her a knowing smile.  
  
“Just let them go, honey.” David smiled, resting a hand on her shoulder.   
  
“Oooh… fine.” She growled, before pulling me into a hug. “Ethan and Nate say goodbye and good luck. Ethan also requests you catch him a Pokemon for next summer.”  
  
I laughed. Pulling away from her. “Oh, I’ll try.”  
  
Kukui had now pulled Lillie to the side, seemingly having a conversation about notes and scientific stuff. Hau, on the other hand, was being hugged by a woman who looked suspiciously similar to him. Hala looked on with a bemused smile on his face. Bidding goodbye to David and Fiora again, I walked over to him, asking if I could speak to him alone.  
  
“Of course, Kaia. What can I help you with?” He asked as we stepped away from Hau and his mother. I pointed to the wristband on his arm, still occupied by a dull orange stone with a small symbol of a fist engraved. He chuckled in response.  
  
“Ah, I figured you’d be asking about that. What do you want to know?”  
“Well… what is it?” I asked quietly, still in awe. “What is its purpose? When I first got it, I had assumed it was like, a normal bracelet, but that’s clearly not the case.”  
  
“Hmm…” He sighed, looking down at the one on my wrist. “It’s called an Astral Key. It allows people to harness Astralium, or ‘Ultra Crystals’ as they’re more commonly known, in order to power up their Pokemon. Have you ever heard of Astralium?”  
  
I shook my head, though silently my mind was exploding.   
  
“Well, Alola used to be plentiful of an odd mineral known as Astralium, but it didn’t ever seem to have much use. That is, until one day, someone discovered that Astralium could be empowered using a Pokemon’s energy, storing said energy inside the crystal to be used later by the Pokemon, powering up the attacks with essentially double the power. People went crazy with it, and eventually, all the Astralium in Alola had been converted into Ultra Crystals based on a Pokemon’s type. Scientists theorized that the inert form of Astralium could be harnessed for even greater power, but by then, almost all of it was lost.” Hala explained, rubbing his chin as he told the story. “Eventually supply ran out on the Astral Keys, and the whole project was essentially scrapped. We still have leftover crystals which we hand out to trialgoers as proof of their victory, but only the Kahunas and a few others have Astral Keys which allow them to harness the energy.”  
  
My mind had exploded from this overwhelming amount of information. “So, if I have a Pokemon whose type matches the crystal, then I could harness this… Ultra Energy?”  
  
“Well, yes and no. The crystal you have now, Normalium, is the normal-type crystal. Any Pokemon with a normal-type attack could in theory use the crystal to boost said attack.” He explained, but my mind was still too busy exploding. I guess that explained what happened with Iro on the cliffside.  
  
“But how do I access it?” I asked, touching the bracelet again.  
  
“Everyone does it differently. I’m sure you’ll figure it out in time.” He explained, before sliding the crystal off his own bracelet. “Here. I want you to have this. Fightium Z.”  
  
I accepted the crystal, staring at its fist carving. “Thank you, Kahuna Hala.” As he began to walk away, I called for him once more. “Kahuna Hala? The Astral Key… it wouldn’t let you… speak to Pokemon, would it?” I asked. It was a long shot, but the curiosity was eating me alive.  
  
He looked back at me, his eyes curious. “No, I’ve never heard of them doing that, and mine certainly doesn’t.”  
  


* * *

  
  
“Welcome aboard! Please head towards your rooms immediately in order to ensure your luggage has arrived properly.”  
  
The porter grinned at the three of us as we boarded, and I glanced towards Hau and Lillie. Hau looked just as exhausted as I was, considering the time and our recent battles, whereas Lillie was still maintaining that odd sense of exuberance that came with being a night owl. We had decided to take a ferry as opposed to a speedboat, as we could do nothing else that night and all three of us were looking forward to getting some nice, well-deserved rest. According to the captain, we and the several other guests of the ferry, would be arriving on Akala tomorrow morning, after a leisurely cruise. The boat was small, with a good 10 passengers total, divided into two floors. Hau’s room was apparently on the first floor, whereas Lillie’s room and my room were on the second.  
  
“Well, I’m exhausted. I’ll see you guys tomorrow?” Hau asked, a tired grin playing across his face, and the two of us nodded, almost in unison. With that, he entered his room, leaving Lillie and I alone in the hall as the ship began to move.   
  
“So… you’ve never actually introduced me to your pokemon. Either of them.” I said suddenly, turning to Lillie. She looked kind of embarassed, moving her bag. “C’mon, I feel like I’ve earned that right.”  
  
She sighed, before reaching into the bag. Lifting, she pulled out a small, purple creature with blue, pigtail-like ears. If seemed almost gaseous, similar to a nebula. “I call her Nebby. She’s a Cosmog.”  
  
I examined her up and down, but I had never seen a Pokemon like this before. “Why keep her hidden?”  
  
“Well… some bad people tried to steal her away from me once, and so I just tend to keep her hidden.” She explained as we turned a corner. “The professors, er, your parents, and Kahuna Hala know about her.”  
  
“Pew!” The nebula-like creature called, and I was surprised that I couldn’t hear what it was saying.  
  
“That makes sense.” I replied, scratching my arm awkwardly. I hadn’t really meant to pry. “And the other one?”  
  
“Oh.” Lillie responded, and produced a Pokeball from her bag. Quietly, she released a small creature of fluff, with two leaves sticking out on either side of it. A Cottonee. “This is Petit. She doesn’t really like to fight, and neither do I, but the professor recommended I get a pokemon who can actually fight in case something dangerous happens again.”  
  
I nodded, and we continued walking through the halls in a comfortable silence. After a few moments, Lillie broke the lull, turning to me again. “Kaia? Can I admit something?” She asked, and Nebby floated silently on her shoulder, a goofy grin on her face.  
  
“Sure, what is it?”  
  
“Well… we aren’t only going to Akala to visit your mom’s lab.” She murmured, looking down. “We’re going to visit the Ruins of Life.”  
  
“Ruins of Life?” I asked, tilting my head.  
  
“Yeah, they’re the resting place of the Guardian of Akala, similar to the Ruins of Conflict being the resting place of the Guardian of Melemele.” She explained, as we finally reached our doors. “Anyway… would you mind coming with us?”  
  
“Oh.. of course!” I replied, a smile blossoming on my face. “If you need help, I’m there.”  
  
“Thanks Kaia.” She smiled, looking off the railing to the ocean sky. After a moment, she began shaking. “Kaia… do you see that?”  
  
“What?” I asked, moving towards the balcony alongside her. She pointed to the sky, and for a moment, I didn’t see anything unusual. But then, a ripple appeared in my vision, as though the sky was water and someone had just dropped a pebble into it. The ripple continued for a few more moments, before dulling and disappearing.   
  
The two of us stood in silence for a moment, stunned.


	14. interlude I

The smell of the sea rubbed in her nose, persistent and pleasant. Lani felt herself shiver with excitement and adrenaline. She looked down at her fins… her new fins. She had always known that travelling with Kaia would lead to these sort of changes, her mom had talked about it all the time, but it was different to see it first hand. Bittersweet.

“Relax, you’re still a shrimp to me.” A voice called from behind her, and she looked up to see Ranger swooping in beside her. “I know a freak-out when I see one, and trust me, you’re fine.”

Lani giggled slightly, despite herself. “Yeah, well, you certainly grew a lot more than I did when you evolved.”

Ranger stretched his wings at the compliment. “Well, it certainly helped my flying abilities.” He clucked, looking down at the runty Brionne. “You know, Brionne are said to be expert singers.”

“W-what? Really?” Lani’s blue skin began to turn red in embarrassment. “I’ve never sang before in my life!”

“C’mon, just give it a try!” He clucked in laughter, only to receive a withering glare from his friend.

“Stop it, Ranger, I’m not doing it.”

The two sat in silence for a few moments, watching the water pass by them in the sea below. It was odd for Lani to see it all pass by so quickly; she’d never been on a boat before, and it was say faster than swimming anywhere. Briefly, she glanced over towards him, examining him closely. It was rare that they got to simply sit and relax together, and if it hadn’t been for Kaia letting the two go out for the evening, they wouldn’t even be talking at this moment.

She allowed herself to give him a vigorous look-over as he stared outwards to the horizon. Large, large was the word that came to mind when thinking about him. Hardly the largest Pokemon she had ever seen, that honour went to her father, but he was definitely big, dwarfing her completely. She noticed a small scar across his chest, the size of two large teeth. Totem Raticate. She hadn’t even realized her friend had taken such a huge hit during the fight.

“I’m sorry.” She murmured, without even thinking. He glanced down at her, confused.

“What on Alola are you sorry for?” He grunted, turning away again to stare at the setting sun. “I shouldn’t have pushed you, I’m the one who’s sorry.”

“No, your scar. I hadn’t noticed it before. You got it saving me, and…”

“Oh, shut it. You could have handled yourself just fine.” He grinned at her, or as much as someone with a beak could grin. “I was saving Kaia. She’s more useless than a Magikarp in drought season.”

“Still, I feel bad.” Lani murmured, glancing at her fins.

“Don’t.” Ranger clucked pleasantly. “I bear it with pride.”

A silence washed over them once more, but it was different this time. It was comfortable. They were both just eager to be in each other’s company. After a few moments, Ranger clucked again, looking down at her from his position on the ferry railing.

“So… Want to go flying?”

Lani grinned as he asked the question. “I’d love to.”

* * *

“Kaia! Come set the table!”

Kaia’s eyes blinked open as her mom’s call echoed through her room. Her room. Verdant walls, beautiful oak floors. She pulled herself out of bed, and at first, she considered it all to be a dream. The adventure, the journey, the move. Her cotton sweatpants rubbed against her legs, the ones she had forgotten to bring to Alola. ‘What an odd dream.’ She thought to herself, before standing up and swiftly getting dressed.

Her first sign that something was amiss was her closet. Most of her clothes were gone, with only a few pairs of jeans, shorts, and tank tops left in their place.  
“Mom? What happened to my stuff?” She called out the door of her room, down the open stairs. No answer. Growling, she put a pair of jeans on and made her way down the stairs.

As she walked down the stairs, her head began to hurt a little bit. She stopped for a moment, righting herself and holding her head. After a few moments, the pain subsided, and she continued her walk down the stairs. As she reached the bottom, she got a good look at the living room and kitchen area.

The living room was… odd. It was a fairly typical living room, but it was hazy, as though somebody had had left a fog machine running for too long. As she examined more and more of the room, it appeared as though someone had gone through it and flipped everything over, including couches, chairs and tables. Even the window seemed to be shattered. As she glanced towards the kitchen, she realized it was no better. Pots and pans strewn everywhere, cupboards thrown open hastily. However, standing in the centre was a strange figure, head down and hands shaking. Still, she recognized his dark hair, identical to hers.

“Dad!” Kaia called, running up to him. “You came back! When?” She heard him chuckle, and she stared at his face as he looked up. His face, it was blurry… as though it were a distant memory that was fading from her mind. The one detail that was clear was his smile, large and ever-present on his face. In fact, it was almost… eerie.

Suddenly, she felt a brush against her, and she looked in that direction. Nothing. Looking back towards her father, she was surprised to see his Decidueye, Oliver, standing right next to him. She hadn’t seen it standing there before. “Olly! It’s been so long!” She exclaimed, reaching her hand out towards him in a sign of greetings. Her face of happiness turned to one of horror as an arrow appeared directly though her hand, glowing with a  strange purple energy. The arrow pinned her hand to the counter, and she screamed in pain as it pulsed the strange energy.

“Stop! STOP!” She screamed, clutching her arm and trying to rip it away, but was having no such luck. “Who are you!?”

“Oh, Kaia.” She heard her father chuckle again, his voice watery and distorted, and watched as he reached out towards her. “Such an overactive imagination. I’ll be taking it back.”

* * *

“Cheat! Ha!”

Keyki grinned as she watched Iro pick up all the cards, grumbling in frustration. “Stupid 3…” He growled, beginning the laborious task of sorting his deck.

Sage looked on in confusion. “I still don’t get this game!” He squeaked, staring at the cards in his hand in frustration. “Who’s turn is it now, and which number do I pick?”

"It’s Sevens now, since Iro just lost on Sixes, and it’s your turn." Varia replied, her body nestled into the foot of Kaia’s bed.

“But I don’t have any sevens!” He exclaimed, tossing the cards down in frustration.

Iro put his hand to his head, annoyed slightly. “Well, then you wouldn’t tell us…”

“Wow, Varia is better at this game than you, and she can’t even see the cards!” Keyki giggled to herself, watching as Sage looked at her sadly. She smiled at him, a chuckle crossing her face. “I’m kidding. It just takes some getting used to.”

“This game is new to everyone except Varia, and she’s not even playing!” Sage grumbled, crossing his legs in a brief tantrum. “Why am I the only one who sucks?”

“Uh, Sage, I would like to politely remind you who just had to pick up over half the deck.” She replied, nodding her head towards the Rattata.

He glared at her, before continuing to sort his deck. “Ugh, frustating little wee-“

“Don’t you finish that sentence, or I will have your head!” She growled with surprising ferocity, startling the entire room. “…What?”

"Nothing. Just remind me to never stand between you and an enemy." Varia replied, and Keyki rolled her eyes.

“We just don’t like being called weeds…” She murmured, staring at her cards again. Just three cards left, an Two, a Jack and an Ace. Her victory was assured, so long as she could bluff her way past this next card.

Lost in thought, she was only snapped out of her trance when she heard a thud next to her. Flipping around, she saw Varia, face up on the ground. Quickly, the Petilil helped the Zubat up, before looking towards where she fell from. Keyki’s new trainer, Kaia, was thrashing about in her sleep.

“Does she do this often?” Keyki asked quietly, and Iro shook his head.

“Not from what I’ve seen.”

"No one has really spent much time with her while she has been sleeping though, have we?" Varia asked, stunning the group. "Only time I have ever slept in the same room as her was after Flores died." Iro flinched as she mentioned the Grimer.

Together, the four Pokemon stared at the shaking trainer for what seemed like hours. Finally, Sage spoke up.

“Do we wake her up?”

And no one had an answer for that.


	15. fourteen: a paradigm shift

_give me a reason to end this discussion  
_ _to break with tradition, to fold and divide_

 

“Attention, passengers! We will be arriving in Heahea City in a few minutes. Those who are departing, please ensure you have all your belongs before exiting the ferry, and we wish you a great day!”

It was a great day. My hair blew casually in the wind, the dark locks contrasting against Lillie’s blonde and complementing Hau’s black. The sea breeze was dulling as the ferry began to pull into the harbour, as the sounds of the approaching docks rung in our ears. The sun glared in the sky, brilliant as a bulb, but there were some brief storm clouds approaching from behind the local volcano. I personally didn’t mind rain, but I knew many people would prefer the blazing sun, so for them, I hoped it didn’t end up pouring.

“So, Kaia. Your mum works in Heahea?” Hau asked me, leaning against the railing and staring at the approaching city.

“Yeah, she’s a researcher.” I replied casually, running my hand through my hair. “She researches… dimensions, or something? I don’t remember, she doesn’t tell me much.”

As I turned towards Lillie, I noticed a grave look crossing her face, before returning to a casual smile. “That’s neat!” She exclaimed, looking away from me quickly.

I nodded again, turning back to the open sea, watching the city approach with a melancholic sigh. It had been weeks since I’d seen my mum, and I couldn’t say I was looking forward to it. She had a tendency to be, well… judgemental. I itched my arm eagerly, taking a few deep breaths. Hopefully, this would be an easy meet-up, not a criticism-fest.

“I sure hope so.” I murmured to Lillie, watching as the ferry pulled up to the dock, harbour noises now ringing in my ears.

It took a few minutes of unloading, but soon, all of the passengers were off the ferry. For the three of us, our belongings could be fit in a backpack, but many people were coming to Heahea permanently, or for a long period of time, and waiting for them to unload it all would have been an awful pain. Instead, the three of us were able to head out immediately, leaving the ferry terminal and stepping into the beautiful city of Heahea.

Hau was instantly transfixed with all the new sights. From what I’d understood, despite him being native to Alola, he’d never been off of Melemele. Lillie was more subdued. Through her research with my mother and Kukui, it was natural she’d been here several times before.

“Kaia, why do you live with your aunt instead of your mum?” Hau asked as we walked, and I shrugged in response.

“Didn’t really work out. I was bitter, she was busy, it didn’t really work having a teenager around the lab.” I responded, my walk turning into a skip for a few steps as I stared at the ground. “Aunt Fiora offered to take me, and that was that, I guess.”

“Hmm.” Lillie murmured, before sighing. “I recognize you from when you were around.”

I turned to her, surprised. “Really?”

“Yeah, well, I was only here once or twice, but you are my boss’ daughter. Of course I knew who you were.” She laughed, zipping her bag closed as a little purple face tried to peek out.

Despite myself, I couldn't help but chuckle. There was an odd pit in my stomach, one that I couldn't quite identify. My heart was pounding in anticipation, though I couldn't exactly identify what it was.

“So, where do we go first?”

Turns out, Hau's first destination was the Malasada shop. He darted inside with a wave and a hoot, leaving Lillie and I alone as we walked down the busy Heahea Street. Unlike Hau'oli, a mess of streets and alleys, this entire city was along this one street, something I wasn't exactly used to. Despite this, there were still plenty of sights to see. Given Heahea's proximity to the ocean, we saw plenty of ocean Pokemon, including a rare sighting of a Mareanie stuck to the side of the harbour.

As we walked, I turned to Lillie. “So, what's your plan then? Coming with me to see the lab?” I asked, sticking my hands in my pockets.

“I... I dunno.” She responded, a sigh slipping past her lips. “I have someone who I was hoping to meet at the hotel...”

“Oh, okay. Do you want me to come with?”

“N-no, I should be okay.”

I nodded, before halting in my tracks. We were in the centre of town, standing next to a small fountain, watching as the street diverged in two. One path led to the left, leading to a large, pristine hotel, whereas the second veered to the right, continuing the long street. It was as we stopped that a peculiar detail reached my mind.

“Don't the Wingull usually make a huge racket around here?” I asked Lillie, my skin prickling slightly. “Especially in the mornings.”

Lillie nodded, seemingly noticing the same thing as I did. “Perhaps you just remember it being louder?”

Somehow, I doubted that. Still, it was here our paths diverged, and so I waved Lillie goodbye as she made her way towards the beautiful hotel. Briefly, I wondered who she was meeting, or why, but knew it wasn't exactly my business. After a moment, it was just me standing in the middle of the empty street, going to meet my mother.

Shit.

* * *

“So wait, why did you call me out?” Sage questioned, his wings fluttering directly next to my face.

“Oh, well, I wanted to let you see the city!” I replied, grinning at him, waving around us as we approached the research lab.

“You didn't want to face your mum alone, did you?”

“...Shut up.”

The doors slid open as I stepped up to the sensors, and together, me and Sage entered the research lab where my mum spent most of her time. The first thing that hit me were the lights. So pristine and bright, it was hard to think straight with them shining sunbeams into my freaking eyeholes. Along the walls were several machines and areas with different functions and purposes, each labeled in words I couldn’t nor cared to understand. The entire area was bustling with aides, even more than I remembered.

“Excuse me, can I help you?” An aide approached, giving a cursory glance from his tablet. “Ms. Stirling is quite busy at this time.”

“Trust me, she’ll be interested in seeing me.” I replied, hands in my pockets as Sage planted himself on my hat. “My name is Kaia Stirling.”

The aide glanced up at me, eyes wide in something akin to shock. “Oh gosh, I am so so-”

“Don’t worry about it.” I cut him off, glancing around the lab. “Mind finding my mum for me?”

“So I was explaining to her, I didn’t take his name to keep my research from being lumped with his! That’s the problem with marrying another researcher. Plus your father’s was just so report-ready! Julia Stirling, lead researcher in her field! It just works, right?”

“Yeah.”

Quietly, I sipped my tea while facing my mother down. She sat across from me, legs crossed in a very ladylike fashion, brown hair done up in a bun. Her tan, alolan skin contrasted with the blindingly white lab-coat wrapped around her waist. The faded sea-green of her eyes matched the colors of Fiora, David, Nate and Ethan, but differed from the verdant green of my own, and her lips were curved upwards in a small smile as she took a sip of tea after her long rant.

“So what’s going on with you, honey? You look upset.” She asked quietly, and I restrained from rolling my eyes. She’d been blabbering on for ten minutes about her conversation with Natalie Navenski, but now my life was important. Totally wasn’t like I had a friend die on me recently like… less than a week ago.

“I’m fine, mum.” I replied in a quiet fashion, heaving a small sigh. “Just a little tired.”

“Are you getting enough sleep?” She asked, setting her cup down on the coffee table between us. “Sometimes, when kids go on journeys, they tend to stay up way too late. I mean, even when your father was wandering around Kanto-”

“Mum, I’ve heard the story before.” It was hard to keep the rage from my voice, and I could tell my mother picked up on it.

Awkward silence.

“I’m gonna go.” I muttered, reaching for my bag.

“It was nice catching up with you.” She replied quietly, a look of sadness evident on her face as she watched me stand up and grab my bags.

“Yeah, it was nice hearing what was going on in your life.” I replied snarkily, standing up. She opened her mouth in shock, but I was already walking away.

“I’m just worried about you, Kaia!” She called after me as I reached the door. “You’re not strong enough for travelling around the region.”

“Too bad.”

* * *

“Ok, what the heck was that?”

I turned to the Cutiefly as he fluttered off my head, seething. “What do you mean?” I asked, my fists still clenched from the encounter. Realizing, I let them go, feeling the heat that had built up dissipate into the air.

“You just flipped out at your mom for no reason!” He growled, flying directly in front of my face. “All she was trying to do was help you, and you couldn’t even listen!”

“You don’t understand, it’s always-”

“No, you don’t understand! My mom is dead! D.E.A.D.” The air was still for a moment, as I stared at him with a mix of shock and guilt.

“...Where are we going?” He asked after a moment, and I sighed.

“We’re going to find Lillie, I guess.”

The two of us walked through the street, now slowly filling with people as the day began in full. I felt like an asshole, and tried to think of some way to apologize, but I couldn’t find the words. Sage seemed to understand, and took a seat on my hat again, before flying off in pain.

“Ouch! Your hat is so hot!” He shrieked, and I couldn’t help but giggle.

“Sorry… the sun tends to warm dark stuff up.” I laughed, holding my hand out for him to land on.

After a few minutes, we arrived at the hotel where Lillie said she was headed to find her friend. It was a breathtaking sight: the grandiose white building pressed against the clouded skyline, white mixing with dark as well as the blue of the sea. In front, there was a large, open area with a path surrounding a spectacular fountain, a horsea sitting atop a spray of water. On the front, a plaque read “TIDE SONG HOTEL”.

“Pretty.” Sage murmured, his eyes wide as he marveled the sight just as much as I.

I nodded, before continuing around the fountain and heading inside. Glancing around, the area was quite packed with tourists of various nationalities. Considering it was summer-time in Alola, it wasn’t all that surprising. I took notice of a fluffy white hat, reminiscent of Lillie’s, and ran in that direction. Unfortunately, it wasn’t her, but a short, elderly woman who whipped me with her stick afterwards grabbed her by mistake.

“Kaia!” I heard someone shout as I rubbed the mark on my arm, Sage patting me while holding back laughter. Turning, I saw the actual Lillie walking towards me, her Cottonee floating at her side.

“There you are!” I exclaimed, rushing towards her. “Where’s your friend?” I asked, glancing at the dozens of people surrounding us. She shook her head.

“I guess he didn’t show up… And I was really hoping he would…” She murmured, looking at the ground in frustration.  
“Oh my… does our Lillie have a little crush?” I asked, with a shit-eating grin plastered my face as I nudged her.

“N-no!” She shouted, pushing my elbow away in embarrassment. “It’s not like that, I swear.”

“Oh, then what is it like?”

“Well, it’s weird. We haven’t seen each other in years, but he’s my bro-”

The blonde-haired girl was interrupted by a loud scream echoing through the hotel. Almost immediately, I turned to the origin of the sound, a woman standing near the entrance, staring directly outside with a look of horror on her face. The entire hotel was silent, holding their breaths in a mix of confusion and nervousness. A tense air passed over the crowd.

There was a loud explosion from outside.

Immediately, any semblance of calm was broken, people screaming and shouting. People began yelling, then other people yelled louder and louder. It was complete chaos. I turned back to Lillie, whose eyes were wide with horror as she and her Cottonee stared directly at me.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a man in a red uniform trying to calm everyone down, but having no luck. “Stay here.” I murmured to Lillie, before moving in his direction passed the flow of people, half of whom seemed to be rushing outside and the other half seemed to be running inside.

“Hey!” I shouted as I approached the man in red, trying to get his attention. “Try to direct people towards the basement. They’ll be safer there.” I explained, remembering some news reports from the terrorist attack on Opelucid City a few years back.

He nodded. “Alright.” He then moved away from me, and began directing people in the direction of the stairwell. Glancing across the room, I saw Lillie give me a look of worry, her Cottonee resting in her arms with her bag wiggling wildly.

I gave her a nod, before running outside, despite my previous advice to the uniformed man. As I exited the Tide Song, my mouth hung open in a mix of shock and horror.

The wind hit my face, storm clouds billowing overhead, as I took in the sight in front of me. The half of large apartment building near the Pokemon Center laid in the center of the road, seeming sliced in half. Above it, near the center of town, a strange thing hung in the sky, attached to nothing. It appeared as a blue and purple hole in the sky, pulsing with a strange light, the air around it frayed with cracks.

Even more terrifying were the creatures swarming from it. Surrounding it were four small, floating creatures, flying sporadically in the wind. They resembled… paper? Either way, one was hanging around the destroyed building, marking it as its handiwork, which did not bode well. Accompanying them was a large, bulky creature, resembling a large mosquito. It had large, muscular arms and a human-like torso, before splitting off into four bug-like legs. It fell from the portal, slamming into the ground in front of the Pokemon Center. None of these resembled any kind of Pokemon I’d ever seen.

Immediately, it righted itself, and looked in the direction of myself and the large crowd of tourists still pouring out of the Tide Song Hotel. In fact, it almost appeared to be staring directly at me, its large mouth visible only by the tip. Then, it began to run, faster than anything I’ve ever seen, barrelling towards the crowd I was now surrounded by. Immediately, everyone began to panic, pushing and shoving to try and run in a random direction.

Someone slammed into my side, knocking me over and causing Sage to be thrown from my hands. I tried to stand up, but felt someone kick me back down again, the force of which slammed my head against the concrete. Stunned, the only sensory input I registered was the sound of something running towards me, growing louder and louder. Eventually, it stopped directly next to me… I could feel the heat emanating from its legs.

Another explosion rocked the city, but everything near me was dead silent.

Everyone who had been standing near me was presumably hiding or still running, and yet this thing was still focused on me. I felt it grab my wrist with its large, crushing hand, and yank me into the air, my feet dangling off the ground.

I opened my eyes, coming face to face with a long, mosquito-like snout and its muscular physique, pulsing with some odd red and orange fluid. My wrist began to burn.

And then it dropped me, suddenly and with the jerk of its hand. It was a good six foot fall before I slammed into water, feeling more continue to be pushed on my as my back hit rock. I had landed in the fountain. My conciousness began to fade, with the cold, dark water still pouring all over my body. As the light flickered out, I heard the loud, stomping footsteps begin to retreat.

* * *

The first thing I felt when I came to was the rush of water, still pouring over my upper body. I opened my eyes, taking note of the sky, still grey with storm clouds, and pulled myself out of the water with a cough and a groan.

I hurt. My legs hurt, my wrist hurt, my head hurt. I rubbed the spot where the creature had burned me, but there was no mark or anything. Briefly, I wondered why it had bothered to let me go, when it had shown no mercy against any of the buildings or anyone else.  
The next thing I noticed were the bodies. There were at least a dozen in this small area alone, and I could barely process what that meant. My brain didn’t even want to think about the fact that an entire apartment building had already been a casualty.

I reached for my Pokeballs, only to grasp at thin air. Only one was left. Reaching for it, I pulled it out- It was Sage’s, and it was empty. ‘Great.’ I thought, pulling myself up and wincing at the pain I was feeling in my legs, and my back. This was gonna hurt.

Slowly, I began limping towards the town centre, trying to regain my bearings. It was quiet, much quieter than I expected, and that only made me more worried. Every now and again, a body would appear as I walked along the path, and I tried not to focus on it; I wouldn’t, I couldn’t continue if I thought about it.

Walking past the fallen building, I got a good look at the town centre. More bodies. The wormhole was still going strong, blazing with a strange glow, and I was tempted to move towards it before I heard more shouts coming from eastwards. The Research Lab.

I jogged as fast as my injured legs could take me, as the sight became clearer; several trainers were in the midst of a fight with whatever those… things were, directly outside the research lab. Briefly, I noticed a familiar blob of dark hair and classy orange shorts, currently engaged with one of the paper-creatures. The other highlight? A purple and grey silhouettes of a Zubat and a Trumbeak, currently engaged in a battle with the strange mosquito-creature. Ranger went in for a Pluck, but it seeming just bounced off the skin. As I got closer, I took note of the Trumbeak’s wounds: heavy slashes across the torso and bruised wings. The Zubat looked no worse for wear.

“Varia! Ranger!” I shouted, trying to move as fast as I could.

Varia turned to the sound of my voice, and it was in that moment that I realized what sort of mistake I had made. With a sweeping arm motion, the creature slammed into Varia, sending her flying like a baseball. I watched her, a call strangled in my throat, as she flew directly into the portal where the creatures had emerged, disappearing from sight.

Ranger battled on, but he wasn’t going so well. His wounds seemed to be catching up with him, and his flight was uneven and worn. Finally emerging into the battlefield, I grabbed a rock from the ground, tossing it at the creature.

“Hey! Jerk!” I shouted, trying to seem intimidating, despite the tears staining my eyes.

Both Ranger and the creature stared at me in shock, and the creature used it to its advantage, grasping on of Ranger’s wings, as the Trumbeak screeched.

All of this was interrupted by a sudden blast of pink energy. Turning, a small figure had emerged from a nearby alleyway, blue-skinned and angry. She sent off another blast of Disarming Voice, shocking the creature into dropping Ranger. Quickly, I scampered backwards, moving in the direction of the Brionne.

“Lani!” I shouted as I drew near. “Where are the others?”

She motioned to the alleyway, face grim, and I rushed in that direction, avoiding a paper-creature as it fell from the sky, defeated. I trusted Lani and Ranger to be able to help out there, but I needed to confirm everyone else.

As I turned the corner, I had to narrowly dodge a Bite attack to the face. “Iro, Iro it’s me!” I called, and he stopped, his face turning from anger to relief. “What is going on?” I asked persistently.

“Sage released us from our Pokeballs, but we couldn’t wake you up. None of us could lift you, not with all those water-soaked clothes, and so we went to find someone who could. We ended up getting caught up in the battle.” He explained, breath weezy as he clenched his stomach. “I’m glad you’re ok. How are things out there?”

I grimaced. “Varia… Varia is gone.”

“Gone?”

“Gone.”

“Well…” Keyki, who was sitting with her head down just next to Iro, looked further down the alley. “She’s not the only one.”

My face turned pale as I saw a small, crumpled figure lying directly next to her. His small, frayed wings were at an odd angle from his yellow, fluffy body, and there was a large puncture wound in his chest, stained red with blood. My vision grew dark again as my mind went into shock. “No…”

“I’m sorry.” Keyki murmured, and I crumpled next to the Petilil, cradling the small, child-like corpse in my arms. I had been trying not to think about it, think about any of the dead, but I felt broken.

Sage was gone. For good.

* * *

We waited in the alleyway for what seemed like hours, each cradling our wounds. Finally, the fighting seemed to stop, and I limped out to the courtyard once more. Hau immediately took notice of me, and rushed over to help me stand.

“Kaia…” He murmured, trying to avert my gaze, but my mind was in so much shock that I could barely register the scene anyway.

The large creature, the mosquito-like one, had collapsed onto the ground. The paper-like creatures were nowhere to be seen, aside from the one that felt early in the fight. A few feet away from the body of the creature, a Trumbeak lay still on the ground, one wing ripped completely off and the other shattered into several different pieces. I barely even registered what I was looking at until I heard Lani’s cries, as she weeped over the corpse of her fallen comrade.

* * *

_“Police are still investigating what exactly caused the attack yesterday morning, but eyewitness reports suggest strange, Pokemon-like entities are the blame. Over three buildings were completely decimated, and much damage was caused to the surrounding city, leading us to believe that repairs shall be in progress for the rest of the year, at the very least. The number of casualties has not been confirmed, but is thought to be in the triple digits, with many more wounded. Most of the remaining population has been evacuated from the city, but it goes without saying that this is a national and global tragedy."_


	16. fifteen: wounds

_flames, they licked the walls  
_ _tenderly, they turned to dust all that i adored..._

 

_"We interviewed Head of Heahea Police Jonathan Reynolds for some insight into these attacks. He had this to say."_

The beep of a monitor echoed near my head, causing me to recoil in pain as I glanced about, trying to get a sense of my surroundings. White walls, pristine sheets, IV in forearm.

_"This has been a deeply traumatic experience for us all at the police station. There's nothing worse than feeling useless, and currently, we don’t know how to help the people we've sworn to protect."_

My mind replayed its previous memories. The attack. The beasts. Varia. Ranger. Sage. I felt my throat begin to clog up at the thoughts as they flooded back.

_"Many witness reports give inaccurate information, or contradict another report. Do you have any official story for us, Officer Reynolds?"_

I felt my fist clench up on instinct. I couldn't remember what happened afterwards, but the tears sprung to my eyes again after the images of Sage's body, punctured through the torso. Varia, tossed into the portal like a ragdoll. Ranger, wings torn off.

_"We're just as confused as you are, Trish. We've been gathering as much intel as we can on the situation, but much of the situation is still murky. There was some sort of power-surge during the attack, which prevented any form of physical evidence, so at this point, we're going almost entirely on hearsay."_

I could feel my heart beating in time with the beeping of a nearby monitor, slowly rising as the memories stained my eyes with tears. A TV played some news report in the left-hand side of the room, near the door. A woman in white entered, checking my monitor for a few moments, before patting my wrist and leaving once more. I felt my eyes closing against my will, my vision blacking.

I woke up again a few hours later to a more hospitable environment. My mother was immediately in my face as soon as I woke up, wrapping me in a large hug, and standing behind her were two aides, as well as Lillie and Hau. The TV was turned off now, and the orange glow of the sunset was now shining through the window.

"What... what happened?" I asked quietly as my mother lifted herself off me.

"You passed out after the chaos of yesterday. You had a pretty serious concussion, K!" Hau replied, a grin crossing his face as his hands went behind his head. "But I knew you'd be fine."

"So... Heahea?" I asked again, and Hau's face turned into a frown. My mother picked up the slack, giving a sigh.

"We're in a hospital near Paniola Town, only a mile or so from Heahea." She replied, crossing her arms. "Heahea... is in disarray. I didn't expect something like this."

Part of me wondered what she meant like that, but I was still a little overcome with memories, too distracted to phrase my curiousity out loud. "Where are my Pokemon?" I asked quietly, and Lillie spoke up immediately.

"M-me and Hau have been looking after them. Well, mostly Hau, but I tried." She murmured, kicking her shoe idly. "If you mean... well... they're currently being looked after."

"I need to be alone for a little bit." I responded coldly, pushing myself up. Lillie looked hurt, but nodded, leaving quickly and quietly. My mother followed her shortly, alongside her aides, but she did not seem happy about it. As she left, she started talking about how she would be back soon, blah blah blah. Soon, it was just Hau and I in the room.

"They're just worried about you." He spoke up after a moment, and I finally got the nerve to look at him. There was a look of worry plastering his face.

"They shouldn't be."

* * *

"Are you sure you're well enough to be out of the hospital?"

I sighed, touching the bandage wrapped around my head. "Yes, Mum, otherwise they wouldn't have let me out." I explained as we walked, trying not to get frustrated with the consistent clacking of her heels against the tiled the floor. "Where are we even going anyway? Your text was not helpful at all."

"Still, I just don't know if three days is enough recovery time, especially since you were unconscious for basically half of that time." She responded, enough worry in her voice to cause me to roll my eyes. "In any case, there is something I need to show you."

"Wow, be more ominous."

"Hey! This is serious, Kaia, and I need you to treat it as such." She scolded, turning to face me. Her arms crossed and she pushed her glasses up onto her face once more. "I'm not even sure if I should be showing you this."

"Why? It's not like you haven't shown me secret research before." It was true; my mom had always fostered my budding scientific curiosity in any way she could, even if that meant telling me things she may not have been allowed to.

"It's not that I **can't** show you, though honestly, that's probably true as well." She replied with a weary sigh, her eyes glancing up at me with a look of worry in her eyes. "But mainly, it's that I'm not sure I **should** show you. I don't know if you can handle it."

"Of course I can handle it, whatever it is!" I shouted, pushing past her in frustration. Of course she was trying to baby me. That’s what she always did. I could handle anyth-

I stopped dead in my tracks, feeling the door swing closed behind me.

In this room, this disgustingly white room, there were several aides swirling around what appeared to be a large cylindrical tube, translucent. The room was fairly dark aside from the one light shining directly into tube and the lights of computer screens, dim in the shadows. The sounds of keys clicking and people talking in a hushed whisper. Inside of the tube was a large, hulking creature, red and orange with large muscles and a long, mosquito-like mouth. I felt a hand lay on my back, soft and reassuring.

"It's okay. It's contained." My mother's voice was quiet but strong. "It was a hell of a task to drag it to our backup headquarters, but it was worth it."

"What... what is it?" I whispered in a mix of awe and fear. My back ached at the mere thought of this creature.

"The fruition of my research." She replied, leading me down to the front row of computers. The room seemed specifically designed to not alert the creature unless someone stepped into the circle of bright light centered around the tube. "We call it EXPANSION."

"Expansion?" I breathed, watching it with bated breath. "Is it a Pokemon? Why not just catch it in a Pokeball?"

"We tried! It didn't seem to work, which confirmed a lot of our suspicions, actually."

"Why name it Expansion? If it's not a Pokemon, then what is it?" Questions began flying out of my mouth like wildfire. I wasn't sure whether I was in awe of this new discovery or uneasy being around this thing, but either way, it felt like I was about to vomit.

"Well, from what we've observed the past few days, it sucks the innards out of its prey and converts them into some form of liquid, which passes through its veins and causes its musculature to increase immensely." She explained vividly, watching with awe much as I was.

I thought of Sage as she said this. Yeah, I was definitely gonna throw up.

"So... why bring me down here then?" I asked finally, staring at the creature. EXPANSION.

"I have a theory I would like to test, if you don't mind. I completely understand if you do." My mother told me quietly, trying not to attract the attention of this creature.

"What would this... test involve?" I asked in response, not taking my eyes off this hulking beast.

"A blood test and some courage."

* * *

"Yeah, this isn't exactly what I'd like to be doing today."

"Relax, I'll be here every step of the way."

"Yeah, from a few feet away! You won't be able to do anything in the time it takes this thing to kill me."

It was a pretty terrifying plan. While the lab was testing my blood for who-knows-what, Mum wanted me to walk into EXPANSION's range of vision, to see if it reacted to me at all. I immediately reacted as any normal human would; utter terror. Still, somehow, I had been convinced to do it anyway.

With a nod to her, I stepped down the long alley between rows of computers, before entering the circle of blank space surrounding this... cage. I got a good, close look at EXPANSION. It was inactive at the moment, the fluids that passed through its body dull and faded. According to Mum, it had been this way since Lani defeated it. Of course, the fates love to fuck with me.

It awoke and slammed into the glass, almost instantaneously. Its large, visible muscles pounded against the glass, not even two feet away from me. I could feel the power emanating from each blow, and the crowd of scientists flinched after each and every strike. It let out an ear-piercing roar, and launched its entire body into the barrier between us. I smelt a faint sweet smell, and watched as the creature collapsed after striking the barrier a few more times. Walking close, I noticed that large, splintered crack in the barrier from the final few slams.

"Holy shit." I murmured, backing away into the darkness once more. I glanced in the direction of my mother, face pale as a sheet. "What the hell just happened?"

"We sedated it." She murmured, rushing towards me and wrapping me in a large hug. "I'm so sorry, I needed to confirm it. I just... was hoping it wasn't true."

_A girl walked back to her hotel room, shared with a friend. Her long, black hair was hidden beneath a similarly-dark hat. Her fists were clenched in tight fists, causing her knuckles to go with white. Her fingernails, cut fairly short for a girl, dug into her hands like daggers, leaving little marks of red tainting the soft palms. Her face was indiscernible beneath the rim of her hat. A small grey backpack hung from her shoulder blades, with a belt of three pokeballs attached to her waist. She stopped at a door, turned and entered, allowing it to shut behind her._

* * *

"Mum, you need to explain what is happening to me, right now."

She sighed, pulling me towards a nearby seat. Once we were both seated, she sighed once more, placing her head in her hands. "Kaia... This test, and the blood test... they prove that you... you're different."

I was stunned. I looked to her, then to an aide nearby, then back to her.

"What!?" I shouted, startling several nearby employees. "What on earth does **that** mean?"

* * *

_The girl flopped onto the bed in the room she shared with her blonde-headed friend. Her breath, normally even and measured, began to accelerate in pace. Her expression, now delicately revealed in the moonlight, had previously been composed, but now, it was as though a dam had broken inside her. Her eyes flooded with tears, and her sobbing, initially muted, now grew into a torrent of loud, wet cries as she stared towards the window._

* * *

"Kaia... have you ever displayed any odd abilities?" She asked me quietly, still refusing to look at me.

"I..." I wasn't sure how to answer. My mother clearly knew something, something potentially related to my ability, but if she didn't, I could come across crazy. With reservations, I just decided to go for it. "I can speak with Pokemon."

"Since when?" Her lack of a reaction startled me, until I remembered that my father had on-occasion displayed similar abilities. Of course she was familiar with this sort of thing.

"A week or so. Since I got Lani." I replied thoughtfully, watching her closely, seeking any form of reaction or confirmation.

* * *

_The girl's weeping turned to screaming, and she began to mess up the bedsheets in a bid for some form, **any form** of control. Her screaming grew louder, echoing through the empty hotel. She grabbed a pillow, tossing it towards the desk on the other side of the room with a fury a Primeape would be proud of. Taking several laboured breaths, she turned to the lamp that rested by the bedside._

* * *

"Kaia... You're what's known as a Faller." She said after a few moments of silence, sitting up straight. Quickly, she grabbed a piece of paper and flicked on a dim nearby lamp, before beginning to draw. I was enthralled, desperate for answers. She drew three circles, all in a line, with overlapping sections between the first and second circles, as well as the second and third circles. I recognized it as a Venn Diagram.

"The blood that powers us, that gives us humans the power to live and adapt better than any other species on earth." She explained, labelling the left-hand circle 'HUMAN'.

"The lifeforce of pokemon, which gives them power but also allows us to harness that power with a Pokeball." She continued, labeling the right-hand circle 'POKEMON'.

"And finally... the mysterious one. The strange power that exists solely outside of dimensions, the one that powers... who knows what. It is also the thing that powers Astralium." She finished, pointing to my bracelet. Labelling the center circle 'ASTRAL'.

"Astral?" I asked quietly, still utterly confused. Faller... Astral... Lifeforce...? My head was swirling. I was having a slight, **slight** panic attack.

* * *

_The girl picked the lamp up, casually hoisting it above her head, and threw it towards the ground in a flash of fury, causing the entire thing to shatter. A brief smell of smoke hit her nose, and she picked up a nearby vase, breaking it too. She sat down in the pieces, her screaming turning back to crying. A shout could be heard from the door, accompanied by a loud knock, while she whispered sweet nothings to herself._

* * *

"It's the best name we've come up with, as of now." She explained. "Anyway, that... thing, EXPANSION, exists here." She pointed to the intersecting section between ASTRAL and POKEMON. "It is powered by the astral lifeforce, which renders our Pokeballs useless, but still has similar physiology to a Pokemon." She continued, before glancing up towards me.

"You, Kaia..." Her voice wavered slightly. "You, and your father before you, exist here." With that, she pointed towards the intersecting section between ASTRAL and HUMAN. "We call you 'Fallers'. You use the astral energy that flows through subconsciously, allowing you to speak to Pokemon, along with who-knows-what else?" She looked up at me now, making full eye-contact. "And from my previous research, I've concluded one other thing; it makes you a target of certain... predators..." She pointed to the creature in the tube.

* * *

_"Why did you never tell me...? How... how could you leave me... to deal with this alone?"_

* * *

The small, quaint motel was cowboy-themed, much as the rest of Paniola Town. Mum rented Lillie, Hau and me some rooms to stay in for a few days while I rested up. I rubbed the bandages on my hands subconsciously.

There was lots of talk by the Island Council, made up of the Kahunas of the four islands (well, three considering the state of Poni, but... semantics) to cancel the summer challenge this year, considering the events in Heahea a week prior. But the consensus ruled that it would be allowed to continue, under greater supervision and security. Hau and I were considering just abandoning the challenge anyway, considering how far behind we were, but Lillie convinced us to continue. In her words, "B-being a Pokemon Trainer means never giving up!".

I walked through the cowboy-themed town, taking a deep breath of the musty air. I made my way through the mid-afternoon crowd towards a nearby field, just south of Paniola Town, waving to people as I went.

I thought about my new mission. Mum said she wasn't sure why the creatures like EXPANSION were attracted to... people like me, but her colleague, Professor Colress, had some theories that he needed me to help test, and asked if I would be willing to go across the island to meet him. Of course I was, considering my Island Challenge, but it still felt nice for her to ask.

Finally arriving at my destination, I reached for my belt, grabbing the two on the end. The new ones.

I sent out my Rockruff first. Despite the intentions of the gift falling flat for me, he'd actually been quite helpful in my recovery (Mother insisted on keeping him in my room for company). It had been on a particularly stormy day that I named him "Rein". It had a double meaning. He reminded me of the rain, but keeping him around also tended to calm me down, aka a metaphorical "rein". It was unorthodox, but we became fast friends.

I giggled as he licked my hand, sending me out of my thoughts. "Kay! Kay! Look, there are some really big dog Pokemon over there!" He growled, pointing towards the group of Tauros in the distance.

I stifled a laugh. "Those are Tauros, silly!" I exclaimed, giving a pet. We played together for a few minutes, as we had a few times previously, before I gave him a pat on the head. "Are you ready to go back for a bit?" He nodded, and I grabbed his Pokeball, sending him back with a flash of red light.

The other new Pokemon was... more contentious. I hadn't even told the rest of my Pokemon about him yet. I knew Iro would hate me, but we needed strong Pokemon and he'd had plenty of time to think about what he had done. The Mankey was released in a burst of bright light.

"...Oh. It's you." The Mankey grumbled as he took a good look at me. "I was wondering when you'd use me. It's only been **days** since you removed me from the habitat."

"Luso. My name is Kaia, in case you've forgotten." I introduced, sticking my hand out in greeting.

He didn't respond to it. "...Who am I fighting?" He asked, sticking his fists into the air.

I shook my head. "No one. I'm adding you to the team, and I wanted a one-on-one talk with you before I introduce you to everyone else."

"...Hm."

I sighed, crouching so I was eye-level with him. "Look, I know you aren't happy. I'm not exactly the happiest I've ever been." I murmured, allowing a look of genuine sadness to cross my face. "But will you at least try? I really think we can become good friends."

"...Can I see them?"

"What?" I asked, confused by the question.

"Your... capturing devices. Can I see them?" He was looking at me with the strangest eyes, I couldn't tell if her was full of contempt or merely uncertainty.

Sighing, I removed my belt from my waist, presenting the Pokeballs in front of him, still holding a tight grasp on it. "You can look, but don't touch."

He seemed genuinely curious in the high-tech devices, observing each one in turn. "What are the markings for?"

"Oh, the names?"

"Yes."

"Well, I carve names into each Pokeball, so I know which one is which." I explained, motioning to each in turn. "Lani, Iro, Keyki, Rein, Luso."

"And this... is mine?" He asked, running his hand along the Pokeball in the fifth slot, feeling the inscription there. I nodded.  
It happened faster than I could blink. His hand, previously feeling the inscription of his own name, whipped up towards my face, knocking me backwards. Stunned, I fell backwards, dropping the Pokeballs. By the time I recovered myself, they were snatched off the ground, and the Mankey was running down the path into the forest at top speed, belt tied around his shoulder and chest.

"Luso! Get back here!" I shouted, standing up and running after him. "Luso!"


	17. sixteen: the forgotten children

___i know they're coming for me, we're not the pitchfork kids  
_ _oh oh, it's the loneliest life that we live  
_ _oh oh, we're not running with the pitchfork kids_

 

“Luso! Come back, now!”

It was no use. At this point, I was just shouting into the darkness of the jungle unfolding before me. With a brief sigh, I took a look back towards Paniola Town. Running headfirst into a dangerous jungle without any protection seemed like a perfect way to get murdered, especially after the confirmation that crazy alien-monsters were trying to kill me. But I had no choice. With a long, uneven breath, I rushed in after the Mankey.

Two things immediately came to mind as I entered the forested area. One, it was dark. Looking up, I could make out brief glimpses of sunshine completely covered by the foliage. Two, it was hot. Really, really hot. I could already feel myself sweating from the pure amount of heat in this area. My shoes sunk into the dirt, which were more like mud, as I tried to get my bearings.

“Luso! C’mon, this is stupid!”

Silence, aside from the echoes of leaves rustling above me.

“Can you at least give my other pokemon back!”

“...No.” The voice came from somewhere above me, but I couldn’t exactly pinpoint it.

“What? Why?” I shouted back, my frustration growing even more than before.

No answer. After a few moments, I heard rustling in the trees again, growing slightly further away from me. I started running. I didn’t even know if I was running the right way, though by the fact that Luso’s movements were still loud and clear to me, I assumed I was. He darted across the treetop, and I caught glimpses of white fur every now and again.

“Luso, seriously!” I leapt over a large log, scraping my hand in the process. I could feel the blood pulsing over the wound as I continued, my voice slowly rising in volume. “Why are you doing this?”

“I’m helping them!” A growl echoed from a nearby treetop, and I halted in my tracks as a large tree branch fell from the trees, landing a few feet away from me. Had I not stopped, it would have landed on my head. “I’m saving them!”

“Saving them!” I restrained myself from laughing. “They don’t want to be saved!”

“Have you ever asked?” I heard the rustling stop for a moment.

I stopped as well, taking a few breaths. I hadn’t asked. But… Pokeballs weren’t supposed to work without some form of consent from the Pokemon.

Wait.

“Why did you want to come with me,” My voice was unnecessarily vicious, my lingering frustration evident. “If you hate me?”

A beat.

It was silence, born from both of us taking a moment to rest. In this silence, I heard a new interesting sound, faint and quiet. Water. We were too far inland for it to be the sea, so…

We both took off at the same time. I wasn’t sure what was significant about that, but Luso seemed to think that a river was important, judging by the speed at which he dashed between trees. I hurdled over another log, placed just precariously enough to trip me-

And fell straight into a pool of mud. I landed hard, my feet sinking a good ten inches into it, and mud sprayed from the ground onto my clothes. Luso kept running, but as I attempted to follow him, my feet remained planted in the mud.

“Luso, wait!”

I struggled against the mud, but it almost seemed to have solidified around my ankles. Great. I glanced up again in the direction where Luso was fleeing. Fuck it. I reached down, digging the my feet out from the mud. Like a maniac, I was ripping the dirt away, only barely taking notice of my right hand, bloody with the harsh scratch. After a good minute, I pulled myself out from the mud and continued running.

When I arrived at the river, I stopped with a look of shock appearing on my face. My Pokeball belt was held tight in the hands of the Mankey, with two of the five Pokeballs open. The monkey Pokemon was accompanied by Rein, though it didn’t seem willing. The dog was standing between the monkey and the river, a nervous expression visible on his mug. As he noticed me, he barked wildly, causing the Mankey to turn.

“...You.” His anger was evident from his expression alone, though his tone was harsh as well. “Don’t you give up?”

“You stole my Pokemon!” I growled, taking a step towards him. “I wouldn’t give up on them so easily!”

“Oh yeah? What would you do if I did…” He shoved Rein slightly, pushing him dangerously closely to the ledge. “...that?” I stopped in my tracks.

“Ka-ai!” The small puppy whined, visibly shaking. “I... can’t do the watery stuff.”

“Luso… I know a part of you wanted to come with me.” I murmured in my most soothing voice, raising my hands slowly. “You might just not realize it.”

“You know NOTHING about me!” His voice was full of more emotion than he’d displayed ever before.

“...Fine.” I put my hands down. “If you don’t want to come with me, I won’t force the issue. Just let Rein go.”

In that moment, everything slowed down, moving at a minute per millisecond. I saw Luso’s face change, from frustration to pure rage. He turned away from me, and pulled his arms back. I was already running at this point, but I wasn’t on time. His hands already made contact, and with a yelp, Rein fell backwards. His eyes were full of fear as he fell towards the rapids below.

My next decision was split-second. With a screech, I rushed and grabbed Luso, before diving off the cliff towards Rein. Thanks to our weight disparity, I caught him just as we reached the water.

* * *

My vision returned all at once, and I stared at the brilliant blue sky. I could feel sand pressing against my skin, still wet and gross, as I groaned, pulling myself out from the sand clot I had formed.

“Man, all this passing out can’t be good for my head.” I growled, lifting myself to a sitting position.

I glanced around, taking in my surroundings. I was on a small bank of a river, half-submerged in the mildly-cool water. Surrounding me was a lot, and I mean a lot, of green. Pulling my legs, numb from the cold, out of the water, I took notice of my two fellows. Rein and Luso were lying a few feet away from me, with my belt still gripped in the hands of the Mankey. Shaking slightly as I stood up, I lumbered towards them, grabbing the belt.

“Oh, thank you merciful gods!” My hands checked each ball individually, mentally and physically confirming they were all there. I wrapped the belt around myself once more, before returning the two active team members to their Pokeballs.

With that said and done, I collapsed on the sand once more, taking a shaky breath. I wasn’t sure how I was gonna address the Luso of it all, but for now, I just needed to figure out where I was. My clothes were all sandy and dirty, and I had no clue where the nearest civilization was.

“Ok, first things first, I need to change.” I murmured, reaching into my bag. “Thank goodness for waterproof bags.”

So, funny story. Really funny story, actually. Figuring I was alone, I didn’t stress too much about covering myself while changing.. This proved to be a mistake, as not ten seconds after I began, a squeal came from the bushes a few feet away, matched by a squeal of my own.

Shellshocked, a girl approximately my own age appeared from the bushes. Her dirty blonde hair was cut short , hanging slightly past her shoulders, and she was wearing a black tanktop with white shorts and a bandana. Around her neck, a large chain with a skull attached hung limply.

Oh no.

“A-ah, I’m so sorry, I didn’t think anyone was here and-” She rambled, covering her eyes.

“It’s fine, it’s fine!” I exclaimed, pulling my new shirt on quickly. “No harm done.”

She sighed, reopening her eyes. They were a brilliant indigo colour, much like the sea during the evening. Her expression changed from a look of horror to a look recognition. “Oh! You must be one of the new grunts!” She pointed towards my new outfit. White shorts, black tank-top.

“Weird that we would find you out here though…” She mused, and I felt my heart start beating at a more rapid pace. “Oh well, follow me and we’ll get it sorted out!” She turned around, heading back into the bushes.

I was faced with a decision. Follow this Team Skull person, see where it lead, or run away as fast as possible. Of course, I went for the obvious choice.

“So you never told me your name!” The girl beside me flashed me a grin. “Weird that we wouldn’t meet you in Paniola Town or something.”

“Y-yeah, that is weird.” I shuffled slightly trying to change the conversation.

“...Well?” She asked again, after a moment of silence.

“Oh! My name is Ka- Kalypso.” I stuttered, nearly mentioning my real name. “Yeah, Kalypso. With a K.”

“Oooh, that’s cool! I could see that as an awesome leader name!” She stepped around a tree, abruptly changing directions, before giving me a wink. “Just don’t tell Guzma I said that.”

“O-oh yeah, Guzma! I know who that is!” I laughed awkwardly, causing the blonde girl to give me a strange look. “But, um, you never told me your name!”

“Oh. People call me Indigo.”

“Ah, because of the eyes!”

“Nope.” And that was that.

Soon, we entered a small clearing in the jungle, wherein there were several grunts dressed similarly to Indigo. They appeared to be setting up some sort of camp. There were tents lining the outskirts of the clearing, and a small fire pit was being constructed in the center. Standing in the center, a tall man overlooked them all, dressed differently from the standard uniform. He had platinum-blonde hair, done in an incredibly strange fashion, and he actually wore pants in contrast to the shorts of the rest of the grunts. All-in-all, there were maybe 12 or so grunts in this field.

This might not have been a good idea.

Taking notice of us, the man walked over to us, giving me a look up and down. “Who is this?”

“Oh, this is Kalypso! She got lost trying to find us, but she’s a new grunt.”

“Really? That’s annoying.” He growled, and I was shocked by the harshness of his voice. “If you are a Team Skull member, tell me one of our passwords?”

“Um… No?”

He stared at me hard for a few moments, before looking down with a growl. “Damn it, I think that’s actually right.”

The woman beside me gave him a look that I recognized as smugness. “See! She’s the real deal!”

As the two argued, I looked around the camp, and couldn’t help but realize that we were drawing quite a crowd. My hands went to my Pokemon, ready for the slightest movement.

“...Fine.” The man, Gladion, growled as he pointed towards a nearby tent. “But she sleeps with you, and if this is some sort of fuck-up, it’s not on me.”

Indigo nodded beside me, and the people around us began to disperse back to their tents. Clutching my arm, the blonde woman led me away from Gladion. “Whew! Don’t mind him, he can be a bit of a grump sometimes.”

“Yeah, he seems… intense.” My tone was measured and cautious, being sure to speak low enough to not attract more attention to me. “Sorry if I got you in trouble.”  
“Oh it’s no worries.” She unzipped the tent, leading me inside. “So, you can set up here, and I’ll grab you a proper uniform.” With that, she left the tent again, leaving me alone inside.

I quickly retrieved my Pokeballs, and released each in turn: Lani, Iro, and Keyki. As I did, they all looked at me with confusion and concern, seeing my new get-up.

“Kaia, what’s going on?” Keyki asked quietly. “It’s been hours since we’ve heard anything from you.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry you guys, some crazy stuff happened.” I scratched my head, feeling the itch of guilt. “I… may have done something that I regret.”

“Kaia…” Iro’s voice was calm, but still had some nervousness to it. “What did you do?”

“...I planned to introduce Luso to our team, and it went poorly.”

And all of a sudden, the Rattata’s fur stood on end, and his expression turned dark. I explained the entire situation to the three of them, and by the end, Iro was positively furious.

“So you let a _murderer_ onto our team, and then were surprised when he tried to murder someone!” He was fuming, pacing back and forth. “Great, just great. And now, because of that jerk, we’re with those Team Skull losers who beat up Keyki! Lani, back me up, this is crazy!”

Lani looked towards each of us, but didn’t say anything. She never said anything anymore.

“Kaia… these people are dangerous.” Keyki had waddled up to me, resting her arm on my leg. “You aren’t safe here. _We_ aren’t safe here.”

“I know, but… I have to see what they’re up to.” I explained in a hushed tone, trying to reduce the volume coming from the tent in general. “I’ve hung around these type of people before, and they’re almost always no-good.”

“Why does that affect you?” She asked in response, and I had no real answer. “You just went through a major trauma. Not everyone battles a crazy monster and lives, especially not you humans. You should be resting, taking it easy, not… Infiltrating criminal syndicates.”

As she spoke, I noticed the shadow of a person appear on the edge of the tent wall. As I motioned to everyone to remain quiet, the zipper rolled down, and Indigo appeared once more, a stack of clothes in her hand. She looked at me with the most curious expression on her face, before passing the clothes to me.

“We’ll be eating in 10 minutes. Hurry up and get changed.”

* * *

Eating with the Team Skull crew was… different. They were all surprisingly nice, aside from Gladion, and each had their own tale to tell. We sat by the fire, eating our crappy dinner, until quite late at night. There were only three people really keeping quiet about their personal lives: Gladion, Indigo, and I.

“So, Kalypso, why did you take the name Kalypso? I’m assuming that’s not what you were born with.” Jacket, one of the older grunts, asked me as he leaned back on a log.

“Oh, well, you know. It sounded cool, and I wanted to get away from my old life.” I was attempting to remain as conservative as possible with my answers.

“Oh? What was that?” He continued his questioning, and at first I laughed, thinking he was joking, but each of the grunts I looked to gave me a serious look. It appears like nothing was to remain secret among ‘friends’.

I cleared my throat awkwardly. “Well, my father left me a few years ago, and my mother would never stop comparing him to me.” I explained truthfully, ensuring I avoided naming names. Saying that I was an ex-champion’s kid would not do me well. “She refused to appreciate my own accomplishments, and one day I just… snapped. Left for good.”

“Well, she sounds like a right bitch.” One of the girls, Maine, laughed, and the entire group erupted into laughter with her. I chuckled along, surprised at how cathartic it felt.

“Alright, _that’s it_.” Gladion sat up from his position, walking over towards me. “You. ‘Kalypso’. Can you battle?”

The entire group went silent.

I cleared my throat awkwardly. “I… have battled in my time, yeah.”

"I'm Gladion. I fight for my partner, Null, to make it strong.” He grabbed a Pokeball from his belt and releasing it. Beside him, a large creature, hulking and intimidating, appeared from its Pokeball. I had never seen such a creature. "Battle me. I won't take no for an answer."

I looked to the crowd nervously. There was a mix of excited, intrigued, and humoured expressions. But one looked on with worry: Indigo. Gripping my hands together, I turned back to Gladion and sat up, brushing my new uniform of.

“You’ve got a deal.”

* * *

“Alright, to keep this brief, we’ll each use one Pokemon. Whoever’s partner falls first, loses. Got it?”

I nodded, clutching the pokeball in my hand. That thing… Null? It was intimidating. I knew she was still grieving, and she hadn’t battled since that day, but I needed her strength now. I released Lani from her ball, much to the surprise of the grunts surrounding our makeshift battle.

“A Brionne? What are you, a rich kid?” I wasn’t able to place the voice, but I refused to let it affect me. I would earn respect even if it killed me.

Lani looked back at me as she was revealed, giving me a look of sorrow and worry. I crouched down next to her. “I’m sorry, Lani, but I need your strength now.” I ran my hand over her head, feeling the smooth, short fur. “Please help me. Fake it out from the left, and then Disarming Voice it from the right.” I was whispering quiet enough for Gladion to avoid hearing me.

She stared at me for a moment, before nodding. She entered the battlefield, and with a call from Indigo, the battle was on.

“Be careful, Gladion.” I was surprised to hear the enemy pokemon speak, turning back to its master. Its voice was synthetic and echoed, as though calling from under the large helmet over its head. “They intend to fake out from the left. What should my course of action be?” I was surprised at this thing’s hearing, as it was least a dozen feet away.

Gladion nodded, stunning me. It was almost as though…

“Go, now! Strike it!”

“Lani!” The seal pokemon darted into action, the plan already in motion. She dove towards the left, sending out a bubblebeam into its side, before darting towards the left. It was such a smooth motion, I thought she got away with it, but…

“Stomp it now, Null.”

The strange creature, who appeared to be a mix of several different types of Pokemon, slammed its bug-like claw down onto the ground, right on top of Lani, who let out a squeal in terror. There was no way something so large could have reacted so fast, Gladion couldn’t have seen it coming without…

“Lani, blast the foot, then go for the stomach!”

Lani released a blast of pink energy, causing the creature to retract its claw. She darted out of its grasp with her opportunity, before sending numerous blasts of energy into the creature’s stomach.

“Lani! Use the triple Scald technique!”

“Null! Stop her.”

Lani darted up one of his legs, landing directly on the other Pokemon’s back. She then unleashed hell onto his back, spraying it over and over with burning water. But Null didn’t take it sitting down, and was thrashing wildly to shake her off.

“Gladion, she’s in my blind spot.” The pokemon growled again.

“Right. Fall to your side, Null, to knock her off.” Gladion called, and I was sure at that moment. Gladion was speaking to his pokemon.

The creature fell to his side, and the momentum knocked Lani off of his back. He recovered surprisingly quickly, and leapt towards the fallen sea lion, claws bare.

“Lani! Use the Soaring Lion technique!”

With a blast of pink energy, Lani disappeared from sight, confusing Null. After a few seconds, a large blast of water rained down from the sky, much to the surprise of Null and Gladion. With that blast of energy, the creature fell to his knees, as Lani landed on top of him.

“The winner is Kalypso!”

The entire group was stunned, including Gladion and, honestly, myself. The only person who seemed unphased by it all was Indigo. After a few moments, the group cheered, crowding around me. There were so many pats on the back and congratulations, I became disoriented pretty quickly.

“Enough.” One word from my opponent, and the group scattered as he approached me. Looking me over once more, he reached his hand out. A handshake.

As I accepted, he pulled me closer to him, and began to whisper in my ear. “You shouldn’t be here, Kaia. None of these idiots might recognize the daughter of a champion, but I do. I’ve seen your interviews. Just flee in the night, or you’ll regret it.” With that, he released my hand, and turned back to Null. After a moment, he addressed the group again.

“Everyone, get some sleep. That trial site isn’t gonna trash itself.”


	18. seventeen: the weight of waves

_i’m the violence in the pouring rain  
_ _i’m a hurricane_

 

_Quiet. Relaxing, calming quiet._

_My eyes flew open. A warm breeze caressed my skin as I sat up and glanced around. I was in some sort of meadow, surrounded by yellow flowers. A few feet away from me, a strange creature was floating._

_Its head and torso were a dark color, and attached to its head was a large, orange headpiece, resembling some kind of bird, and extending from its torso were two arms, thin and black, attached to two large yellow arm pieces, almost resembling a shield of some sort. It looked as though if they were to be put together, they would form a sort of shell around the creature._

_I reached out towards it, and it darted towards me, cackling with electricity._

_My vision shifted._

_Quiet. Suffocating, nauseating quiet._

_My eyes flew open. The harsh, overwhelming presence of the ocean was strangling me, forcing me deeper and deeper into its dark depths._

_I couldn’t breathe. I tried to scream, to cry, to do something, but it was like all the energy had been sapped from my body as the riptide dragged me under._

_Above me, a dark shape, large and intimidating, floated menacingly, its form shaking and shivering as it watched me drown._

_My back hit sand, and the last of my air flew out of my lungs with a burst of light in the dark depths, before the light faded, leaving my cold corpse alone in the dark._

I flung awake, barely holding back a scream. I felt the tangy presence of sweat on my skin. Indigo stirred across from me, but didn’t wake from her slumber. Taking shaky breaths, I crawled out from the tent, taking in the orange flecks of sunrise.

Briefly, I checked my phone. 4:53am, but still no signal. As desperate as I was to text Lillie or Hau or somebody familiar, no such luck. Taking an idle glance around, it didn’t seem like there was anybody around quite yet… except one.

“Gladion?” I called, approaching the figure at the edge of my vision. He was sitting alone on a log near the ashes of the previous night’s campfire, staring at the rising sun. “Gladion,” Still, no answer. As I approached, I noticed he had earbuds in. I snatched them out of his ear.

“Hey, what do you think you’re- oh,” He looked deflated as he saw me, turning away. “It’s you.”

I glanced down at his phone, before scoffing. “Ugh, the Lumineons?” I rolled my eyes, taking a seat next to him. “Talk about cliché.”

“Hey, they are brilliant artists!” For the first time, I actually saw him grow furious instead of just mean. “Clearly you don’t appreciate good music. You must like… the Dixie Torchics or something.”

“Ew no, gross! I’m more of an HP/PP fan.”

“Wow, and you think you have the right to lecture me on music taste?”

“Hm… let me think.” I put a finger to my chin. “Yes.”

“That might be the funniest thing I’ve heard all week.”

We both sat for a few moments, taking in the sunset. I was still shaking from my nightmare, but somehow, the argument had calmed me down slightly. I took a deep breath while clenching and unclenching my fists. After a while, Gladion cleared his throat and turned to me again.

“You really shouldn’t be here, Kaia. I said it three days ago, and I’ll say it now,” He turned to me, a serious look on his face. “These people may seem nice, and granted, you’ve done a good job integrating yourself, but they are also incredibly bitter. Your privilege makes you an enemy to them.”

I took a good look at him for a moment, a thousand thoughts running through my head. “Why do you refer to Team Skull as ‘them’?” It was a question that had been burning my mind for a while.

He seemed stunned by the question. After staring at me for a moment, he scoffed. “Whatever.”

I waited, watching to see if he would react further than that, but he didn’t. He just put his headphones back in, took a deep breath, and continued to act like I didn’t exist.

* * *

“So… You like it?”

“Um… I think so? It’s definitely different,” I was unsure how I felt about it. On one hand, it was a change, but on the other hand… I barely looked like myself anymore. With my free hand, I fluffed the thick, dark locks, now cut off just at my shoulders, and examined the back with a small hand mirror.

“Trust me, you look great!” Indigo, on the other hand, was ecstatic. She was quite proud of her handwork, apparently, and her smile was so contagious, I couldn’t help but smile as well.

I had been with Team Skull for a few days now, and still, we had not seen any sign of civilization. According to Gladion, this entire side of the island was basically unpopulated, aside from the Trial Site.

Initially, my plan was to run away from Team Skull as we reached a town of some sort. Now that I knew their goal, to trash the Trial Site, I felt an urge to stick around. Sabotage their plans from the inside. Plus, if I got a chance to do the trial afterwards, well, that wouldn’t be too bad either.

Indigo quickly swept up the remnants of my hair, dumping it into a nearby plastic bag. “Now you look like a true Team Skull member! Well, besides the typical pink hair,” She let out a small giggle, “I do not understand our general obsession with hair dye.”

“That’s the plan,” I laughed awkwardly, glancing at my wrists.

“Hey!” Gladion’s harsh voice rang from outside the tent, “Hurry up!”

Together, Indigo and I crawled out of the tent, gathering with the rest of the group in front of Gladion. He did _not_ look happy, but then again, Gladion never looked happy.

“There you two are,” He growled, scrutinizing my new haircut with his gaze. He looked like he wanted to say something, opening his mouth, but he decided against it, turning to the rest of the group.

“Nice haircut, Kal!” Jewel, one of the newer grunts like myself, saddled up next to me, “Indigo did mine too. She’s like, a goddess of the scissors!”

“Oh, stop,” Indigo piped in from beside me.

She looked slightly peeved when we actually did stop.

“But… have you considered dying it pink? I just think that whole look _works_ ,” I had to elbow Indigo to stop her from giggling, much to the confusion of Jewel.

“If people could stop talking,” With that, Gladion sent the three of us what could be construed as a death glare, “I’ll get on with the plan of attack for today.”

Say what you will about Gladion, he commanded respect. Even if his frustration was towards us, the entire platoon shut up as soon as he began speaking again.

“Right.” Despite that respect, he looked uncomfortable, standing in front of everyone. I wasn’t sure if it was nerves or uncertainty or… Actually, I wasn’t even sure if Gladion _had_ nerves. “So the immediate goal is to have one of our newer members, who haven’t attempted the trial yet, distract the Trial Captain while the rest of us sneak in and trash it. Now, this trial captain is quite adept at battling, able to crush her foes with a single swing, and needs to be taken out of the equation before we can go and mess the place up. Any questions?”

The entire group was silent for a moment, before I cautiously raised my hand. “How do we determine who is going to distract the Trial Captain? You didn’t really specify.”

* * *

“Well, it looks like we have a volunteer,” For the first time ever, I saw Gladion smile, but it wasn’t exactly comforting.

“I’m just saying, it’s a lot harder than it looks sometimes!”

“Shut it, Jewel. Just because you’re bad at catching Pokemon doesn’t give you an excuse.”

“Why do you bully me so much, Maine? It’s not exactly fair.”

“Why don’t both of you just shut up!” Gladion growled to the two arguing grunts, before peeking above the foliage. “We’re here.”

I drew in a shaky breath as I observed our target. A magnificent hill, filled with ponds and interconnected rivers all pooling into a large basin at the bottom. It was a truly imposing place, much more so than the Verdant Cavern.

“Look, Kalypso.” Indigo pointed towards the forested area condensed around the large hill. “The Trial Captain.”

Gulping, I turned my gaze in the same direction as her hand. A large fishing pole was the first thing that caught my eye, leading down to a head of blue hair and-

“Her?” I blinked, glancing towards each of my companions, whose expressions either showed nervousness or fear. “Really?”

The trial captain appeared to be a young girl, thirteen or fourteen at most, barely standing at the height of my shoulders, and I was by no means a tall girl. Her hair, blue as the ocean, was cut at her neck. She wore a casual outfit, including a white tank top and long blue pants with decals on the side.

“Yes, that’s her. Now go, and distract her for as long as possible, preferably without actually doing the trial.” I could hear the annoyance in Gladion’s voice, so with an eyeroll, I stepped out of the bushes and approached the young girl.

“Hell-aaaaah!” My hello was quickly transformed into a scream as the girl nearly whipped me in the face with her fishing pole, face serious.

“You should not startle a fisherman. We can be quite dangerous. Why, once I killed a Magikarp with my bare hands.” Briefly, I glanced over her face to see if she was joking, but her expression was stone cold.

“W-wow, that seems… pretty brutal.” I admitted, feeling sweat congregate in my palms.

There was a tense, awkward moment, before her expression erupted into a grin. “Ahah, I’m just messing with ya! My name’s Lana, and I’m the Trial Captain here! I assume you’re here to challenge the trial?”

“That-that’s right.” I had changed out of my Team Skull clothes into my old Toucannon shirt, which was hopefully inconspicuous enough to avoid detection. I still hadn’t come up with a way to warn Lana of the danger without ruining my good name.

“Trainer I.D. and Trial Charm, please!” After I rummaged through my bag and handed the items to her, she gave them a look over, before looking up at me, shocked. “Stirling, as in, Will Stirling?”

I glanced back at where Team Skull was probably still waiting. “Y-yeah, that’s my dad,” I murmured, trying to keep my voice low.

“Oh mY MEW, NO WAY!” Lana was basically screaming at this point, and I had given up trying to keep quiet. “HE’S MY HERO! I PLAY HIM ALL THE TIME ON PWTO!”

PWTO, or Pokemon World Tournament Online, was a popular pokemon battling sim, in which players would pick a famous trainer from a large roster, typically champions and gym leaders, and use their roster to battle other trainers online. It was popular among kids who weren’t old enough to take the Trainer Licensing Exam at thirteen, but many old children and adults continued to play it in order to hone their battling skills. There were even tier lists composed by the most dedicated of fans. Dad, because obviously, was highly ranked, the last I had checked.

“Oh, I used to play Byron.” He was quite the underdog in terms of tier, but his beard made me laugh as a kid and I never grew out of using him.

“Eh, steel types aren’t really my thing,” She admitted, before turning her back to me and facing the forest surrounding the hill. “Well, Kaia Stirling, welcome to the Trial of Brooklet Hill!”

I threw one tentative glance back towards the bushes where I had left the group, but saw no sign of them. At this point, I wasn’t sure whether that was a good or bad thing. Shuffling behind Lana, we entered the forest. It was tense for a few minutes of walking at a slight incline, before Lana broke the silence.

“Hm… Looks like rain.” Lana’s voice had returned to the dull, moodless tone from earlier.

“Is that a bad thing?” I glanced around at the jungle encompassing us, worried that Team Skull would reveal themselves at any moment.

“Well, not necessarily, it’s only that the Trial Pokemon tends to be extra vicious in the rain,” She explained, which did not ease my nerves in the slightest. “Recently, we’ve been having some issues with the wild Pokemon teaming up and attacking Trial-goers. Why, I had to remove a corpse from a Gyarados just the other day!” I glanced down at her, waiting for her to say she was kidding, but she just moved past me, a blank expression on her face.

Soon, we crossed a bridge, leading towards the main basin area. The wind had begun to pick up, causing the trees to begin shifting violently. Briefly, I felt a brush on my leg, and looked down to see three Dewpider rushing for the safety of the trees. I subconsciously shivered.

“Wait,” Lana murmured, stopping in her tracks. “Do you hear that?”

“No…?” I responded, focusing on the sounds of the forest.

“Stay here, I’ll be right back.” With that, she rushed down the path, leaving me alone in a shifting forest.

* * *

I waited for probably a good fifteen minutes with no sign from Lana. The wind had picked up immensely, and rain finally began to pour from the heavens, pummeling my skin with condensed liquid. I was beginning to get worried, and would probably have continued down the path after Lana if not for a timely intervention.

“Kalypso!” Running up the path was Jewel, her pink hair soaked under her hat, with a large cut across her arm.

I quickly ran to meet her. “Dear Mew, Jewel, what happened?” I asked, catching her as she approached.

“The Pokemon, they just… turned on us, as soon as we got in there,” She explained between heavy breaths. “We had only just gotten the spray paint out when a huge… thing attacked us!”

“What kind of thing?” I asked, my heart beating fast.

“I don’t know! I have never seen something like it before!”

I was already running past her. ‘Please no, please no, please no.’ My mind was racing a mile a minute, but I was having an incredible case of deja vu at the moment.

I reached the water and stared in horror at the scene unfolding in front of me. A large creature, resembling a large whale of some sort, was currently attacking a group of Team Skull grunts on shore with large blasts of water. Lana was battling it with a large spider-like creature typically known as an Aquaranid, and neither Gladion nor Indigo were in sight.

I reached for Lani’s pokeball, feeling for the L and releasing it. To my frustration, in my hurry, I grabbed Luso’s instead, releasing the Mankey to the world. He glanced around, surprised at the chaos unfolding around him, and turned to me.

“What the fuck is happening?” He growled, and I shushed him. Grabbing Lani’s actual pokeball, I released her, before turning to Luso.

“Listen, I don’t even know why I’m still keeping you around. If you want to run into that jungle, fine, I don’t care, but just stay out of my way, alright?” I was in no mood to deal with his shenanigans, and looking towards Lani, began running in the direction of the beast as she hopped onto my shoulder.

The grunts were all but defeated by the time I got there. Lana’s Aquaranid was the only pokemon still fighting, and everyone else had either fled or fallen unconscious. Lani jumped off of my shoulder, staring down the dark, whale-like creature.

“Kaia!” Lana shouted as she saw me approach. “It’s not worth it! Something weird has happened to the Totem Pokemon!”

I blinked at her, stunned. I had assumed it was some form of Ultra Beast, but… This was the Totem Pokemon? “What is it?” I asked, dodging a spray of water.

“I’m not sure! From what I saw, they were Wishiwashi, but then they swarmed the Totem Gyarados and… ate it, and then… transformed!”

I turned back to the creature, processing this new information. Wishiwashi weren’t typically carnivores, so the fact that they would all swarm such a large creature as a Gyarados, survive the encounter, and then eat it seemed absolutely ludicrous. Typically, when Pokemon change their physiological patterns, it would be due to a change in the environment. Could it be…?

“Lana, do you have any goggles I could borrow?”

“Y-yeah, here!” She shoved a pair into my hands.

Slapping them on, I turned to Lani. “I’m going to go see what’s happening under there. Will you help me?”

Lani looked contemplative for a moment, before nodding. Grabbing her, I dove into the water like a lifeguard of some sort. In fact, I probably looked ridiculous, but that wasn’t really the focus of the moment.

I slammed into the frigid water, regretting my decision immediately. Glancing about, I noticed water Pokemon of all sorts in a frenzy. Feebas, Remoraid, Corsola… But there was something I caught in the corner of my eye. It hovered near the raging monstrosity, translucent and fluid. From what I could tell, it appeared like… some sort of jellyfish? I had never seen a Pokemon like this before.

Oddly enough, it seemed to take notice of me right away. As I took one stroke towards it, Lani helping propel me forward, it darted under the whale creature in the opposite direction, and I lost sight of it. Swimming in that direction, I suddenly felt a large burst of pain in my arm. Glancing down, a Carvanha had chopped down on my arm, and blood soon began to spurt from the wound, tainting the water red.

Seemingly taking notice of the blood, the whale monstrosity slammed its fin down onto me, knocking me away from Lani. Nearly blacking out from the pain of both assaults, I stared upwards at the creature as I floated into the dark depths of the lake.

‘So this is how I die.’ I thought to myself, as I slowly became more and more oxygen-starved. ‘I always assumed I’d go out saying something sarcastic.’

I landed on the bottom of the ocean floor, my eyes now fully closed. I felt someone begin to pull at my arm, presumably Lani. I had no more energy, all of the breath had been taken out of me by the blow. It was only when the last of my breath left me that I felt another person begin to pull that Lani made progress. My eyes flew open as we hit air, taking a huge gulp of air. My vision returned to normal, and I glanced around, trying to get my bearings.

To my right was Lani, struggling to keep my body afloat. I quickly began to kick, alleviating the pressure from her. To my left, much to my surprise, was Indigo, who seemed to be doing the best she could to prevent both me and Lani from sinking.

“What- what are you doing here?” I coughed up some water as I spoke.

“Your Mankey told me that- Oh shit, nevermind, talk later!” She shouted, before pointing to the creature still assaulting the shoreline, as it turned its attention back to us. “Duck!”

The three of us ducked as one of its fins soared over us, nearly cutting us down.

“Indigo, are you alright to swim back?” I asked, and she nodded. Detaching myself from her, I held on tight to Lani. “Alright, we have to take that thing down. Are you up for it?”

Lani nodded, and we went off. Circling around the creature, Lani began laying into it with blasts of pink energy, and our speed and maneuverability granted us a significant boon against it.

After a while of this, the creature was clearly beginning to get annoyed. It began thrashing its fins carelessly, churning up the water and preventing us from maneuvering around it.

“Lani! We’re going to have to take that thing down from land. Pull to the right!”

Soon enough, we were back on land, and facing down the creature atop a nearby ledge. The Team Skull members who were here previously had all fled in our time in the water. Lana was no longer providing fire support, as her Aquaranid had collapsed, leaving it up to us.

“Lani! Time for an acrobatic maneuver!”

She nodded in confirmation, before racing towards the edge of the cliff and leaping off it. Flying through the air, she landed on the whale creature’s skin, smashing into it before leaping away again. Soon, she leapt up into the air.

“Decimate it with a Disarming Voice!”

Pink energy blasted out of her mouth, slamming into the monstrosity. This, combined with our attacks earlier and Lana’s aid, all wore the creature down. It exploded into countless Wishiwashi, all of whom flopped back into the water. Rain still pouring down my face, I slumped onto the ground, exhausted. Lani soon flopped next to me, and together we stared at the grey sky for a while.

“Thanks for your help, Lani.”

“...Don’t mention it, Kaia.”

* * *

I gripped the blue crystal that now rested in my hand tightly, my knuckles turning white. There was a small symbol of a wave embedded on the front. Lana had said, “even though you didn’t technically beat the Totem Pokemon, you earned it,” before sending me off on my way again.

Team Skull, including Indigo and Gladion, had fled without me. I hadn’t even got a chance to say thank you to Indigo. I now walked down the path away from Brooklet Hill, both glad to be on my own again and sad to leave my friends in Team Skull.

“...Hey.” Luso walked out in front of me on the path, staring me down.

“I had assumed you had left.” I tried to mask my disdain, but no such luck. “You’re free to go. I was serious.”

“I’m sticking around.” He growled, much to my shock. “I’m not going to let you endanger the lives of your ‘friends’.”

“And what does that mean?”

“It means,” He shouted, moving closer to me. “That you recklessly endangered your friend without even thinking today! You just dove into the water and nearly got yourself and your friend killed, and you don’t seem phased at all!” His face was heating up red as he worked himself up. “Say what you want about me, at least I am a good strategist! You’re one of the worst battlers I’ve ever seen! You don’t even fight alongside your troops!”

“What am I supposed to do?” I shouted back, clenching my fists in anger. I was partially surprised at how easily he was pushing my buttons. “Any time I try to intervene, I nearly die!”

“That’s a risk you’re supposed to take! Your friends do it, you should too!”

I wanted to scream and shout, tell him he was wrong, but I had no way to counter that. Leaning backwards, I took several deep breaths, trying to calm myself down.

“I don’t want you around.”

“It’s either you deal with me or you release all of us.”

“Whatever. Stick around if you want, I don’t care.” With that, I turned and stomped away down the path, leaving Luso alone in the rain. After a moment, he ran after me to catch up.


	19. eighteen: welcome to adulthood

_we were victims of the night  
_ _a chemical, physical, kryptonite  
_ _helpless to the bass and fading light_

 

 _Phone Logs provided by Xatuu Mobile. Thank you for your patience!_  
Sunday, July 9th, 2083  
[683-413-7303] + [261-951-4211]

_Ring. Ring. Ring._

“Greetings, Dr. Stirling’s lab, how may I help you?”

“...Natalie? Can you put my mother on the phone?”

“M-miss Kaia! Of course, straight away!”

“...Kaia? Is that you?”

“Yeah. Hi, Mom.”

“Kaia! Dear Mew, what happened to you? You just disappeared, I thought--”

“I know, I know, I’m sorry. There was an emergency and I accidentally got lost in the wilderness. I would have called you, but there’s no signal on the other side of the island.”

“You went all the way towards Brooklet Hill? Kaia…”

“I know, I know, I’m sorry.”

“Well, I’m just glad you’re safe. You… are safe, right?”

“Yeah, I’m at a ranch house up north.”

“Good.”

“Mum… there’s something else.”

“Oh?”

“Well… I did the trial while I was down there. There was something in the water… something that made the Pokemon go crazy.”

“Really? What happened?”

“A bunch of Wishiwashi devoured a Gyarados. A totem Gyarados, at that! And then they… merged together… to make some sort of monster?”

“Dear Mew! What do you think caused it?”

“...Lani and I went for a swim during the chaos. I saw… I saw a strange creature, nothing like I’d ever seen before.”

“An Ultra Beast?”

“Well… I’m not certain, I didn’t get a good look at it.”

“Would you mind describing it?”

“Well… it looked almost like a translucent Jellicent. Long tentacles, bulbous head.”

“...And your theory is that this creature made the Pokemon go insane?”

“Yeah.”

“...I’ll look into it. Thanks for the information. Just… were you in danger?”

“Yeah.”

“Kaia, promise you’ll be careful next time!”

“I will.”

“Also, Kaia… do you realize what day it is?”

“...Sunday?”

“Your birthday was two days ago.”

“Oh.”

“Only you could forget your own birthday, ahah… well, you and your father.”

“Sorry, it must have slipped my mind while I was, you know, _battling eldritch abominations_.”

“Anyway, I gave Hau your present. Last I heard, he was headed towards the Royal Avenue.”

“Mum, I’m eighteen. You really didn’t--”

“Oh, it was no trouble! Besides, I think you’ll enjoy it. I also gave one to Hau and Lillie, so don’t be surprised when--”

“Oh, _wow_ , my best friends get birthday presents too? What a _fantastic_ present!”

“Don’t you take that tone with me, young lady! Maybe I should just tell Hau he can have the last one…”

“...Sorry.”

“Good. Now, I realize that you’re eighteen, which means you’re able to drink legally. I’ve condensed some general rules--”

“Oh no, you’re-- breaking-- up! Talk-- later-- bye!”

_Click._

* * *

It was the dusk of the following day by the time we arrived at some form of civilization: Royal Avenue, a small community of people just outside of Paniola Ranch. It was famous for its nightlife and battle scene, according to Xatuu.

“Hey! Get back here, you little pest!”

A commotion seemed to be unfolding in front of the entrance. There seemed to be a person arguing with some form of avian pokemon. Typical of the locals, he was tall and blonde, with a straw hat covering his head of hair. Alongside the tattered plaid he was wearing, an acoustic guitar was strapped to his back, though it appeared to have suffered some damage. The strings were snapped and the wood was dented slightly.

“Excuse me, sir,” I said as I approached, voice sickenly sweet, “What seems to be the problem?”

“That little… vermin,” He spat, sneering down at the bird, “Destroyed my fucking guitar! I have a concert to play this afternoon!” I took note of the small stage being built a little ways down the road.

Oh, goodie.

“I did no such thing!” The bird said, voice smooth and methodical. “This ignoramus simply stumbled over here, fell, and assumed I broke it!”

Of course, to the cowboy, this sounded like angry chirping.

“Why, you little--”

“Okay, stop,” I surprised myself with the calmness of my voice. Turning to the bird, I crouched down next to her. “Listen… This guy is impossible to reason with. Would you mind moving?”

She seemed momentarily surprised at my ability to understand. “I-- this area has the perfect aura for my dancing. I need to practice!”

I sighed, containing the glare I wanted to shoot towards the guy. “Why don’t we go find another spot together? This guy’ll just keep bugging you if I send him away.”

She considered it for a moment. “Alright.” She fluttered onto my shoulder, and I turned to look back at the cowboy. He was staring at me, fear and confusion in his eyes.

Just another day in the life of a freak.

“Excuse me, sir.” I murmured, pushing past him. I heard my bird friend scoff at him as we passed. Walking past the entrance to the Royal Avenue, I considered what had just occured. “Hey, what should I call you?” I asked her, feeling her shuffle at the question.

“Well, we _Oricorio_ don’t have ‘names’ as you humans do.” She said, her sing-song voice filled with surprising amounts of distaste at the word human. “Each of us have a special trill that represents us.”

So she was an Oricorio? I’d seen pictures of them, but never one like this. Most were varying shades of yellow, purple, or pink, depending on their lineage and area. I’d never seen a red one before.

“Do you want me to pick something out, then?” I asked, “I don’t think I’ll be able to trill.”

“Hm… Well, I don’t know what the point is,” She huffed, turning away, “but if you insist.”

I considered it.

“You seem like a Gabrielle.”

“Gabrielle?”

“It means ‘she who danced at a show I saw once’.”

“Oh. _Freaking humans…_ ”

We walked down the dirt road for a while, comfortably silent. Gabrielle nestled onto my shoulder, her feathers tickling my neck. I sighed.

“What’s your problem?” She asked, and I recoiled at the intensity of the words. She seemed to realize her tone, because she softened considerably while saying, “I don’t mean to cause a problem.”

“It’s just…” I tried to phrase my words to properly explain how I was feeling. “I had a friend. He reminds me a lot of you, I think.”

“And… what happened to this friend?”

“I got him killed.”

She didn’t seem to have an answer for that.

After a few more minutes of a much more awkward silence, Gabrielle perked up.

“Do you hear that?” She asked.

“No… what is it?”

She hopped off my shoulder, landing on the ground with an elegant flourish. She began hopping towards the jungle, leading me. Soon, we were nearing the edge of the wilderness when I heard the noise: sobbing. Taking a glance around, I saw a small lump curled up underneath a tree.

“Um, Gabrielle, I’m not the best suited for--”

“Nonsense! Someone needs our help, and I can’t talk.”

I sighed. She had a point.

“Um… excuse me?” I asked as I approached. It slowly uncurled, revealing a small girl of maybe eight or so years. Her eyes were red with tears, and her dark hair was messy. “Are you alright?”

She shook her head.

I took a seat near her. I noted Gabrielle hopping to a place beside me.

“You wanna talk about it?”

She shook her head.

I could feel Gabrielle’s eyes burning into my head. She was watching my reactions closely.

“I like your hair, miss.” She murmured, pointing at my cropped hair.

I chuckled. “Thanks! It’s new. Yours is very pretty too.”

“Gamma used to do it for me.” She said quietly, her eyes beginning to well up again.

“...She doesn’t anymore?” I am nothing if not tactful.

The sobbing began once more. “I-- just-- miss-- her-- so-- muuuuuch!” She heaved between sobs, her nose covered in what appeared to be snot.

Was this what I looked like, just over a week ago?

My hand ran over Rein’s pokeball. Ever since I’d started travelling with him, he’d only been in danger. He had helped me through a rough time, and all it had gotten him was pain and suffering.

I unclipped him from my belt.

“Hey, what’s your name?” I tried my best to grin at her.

“Miki.” She sniffed, wiping the snot from her face with her arm.

“Miki, I have a friend I want you to meet.”

Rein was revealed in a flash of light. “Kay!” He barked happily as he saw me. “Ooh, Birdy!” He noted, giving the Oricorio a lick, causing Gabrielle to recoil in horror.

Miki was enticed by the fluffy brown dog that appeared before her. “Woah!” She exclaimed, eyes wide. “You’re a Trainer?”

“Yeah!” I laughed, though it was slightly forced. “This is Rein! Say hi, Rein!”

“Oh! Hi, miss!” He barked happily, licking her face. She giggled.

“Miki… How would you like to keep Rein?”

She blinked at me, eyes wide. “But… I don’t have my license yet! And he’s yours!”

“Your mom or dad should be able to set him up as a family pet.” I explained, trying to ignore Rein’s hurt look. “He… he took care of me when I was in a similar position to you. I feel like he’ll be more help to you then he will be to me now. He’s very good at cuddling.”

Rein nuzzled my hand. “Kay…” I could sense the underlying worry in his whine. “What do you mean?”

I scratched his ear.

Miki still seemed stunned at this. “I don’t-- I don’t have anything to give you, miss.”

“A smile?” Holy crap, that was corny. Judging by Gabrielle shuffling beside me, she thought so as well.

She gave me the biggest grin she could, wiping the tears from her eyes.

“Rein.” I murmured, petting him slowly. “I won’t do it if you’re not okay with it.”

He stared at me for a moment. “I understand, Kay.”

“Take care of her, alright?”

“Yeah.”

Miki was watching this exchange, her eyes wide. She reached out to pet him, and he rubbed his head against her.

“You too, Miki. You’ll take care of him?”

“Y-yeah.”

I manually opened his pokeball, snapping it. The ball shattered, signaling Rein’s freedom. I reached into my pack, grabbing a free pokeball, and handed it to Miki.

“Go on.” I grinned, despite the feelings of melancholy now swarming over me. “Catch him!”

And she did.

* * *

After Rein was safely caught, I escorted Miki back home to her family, and explained the situation. Her mother thanked me for finding her, and her father promised that they would take loving care of Rein. Soon enough, I was wandering the Royal Avenue as the sun began to set.

“That was rather impressive,” Gabrielle commented, ruffling her feathers. She glanced at the lights slowly being lit on the strip. “These… light displays, on the other hand.”

“Oh, I’m sorry!” I had completely forgotten. “We were going to find a better spot for you to practice.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it. I’ve decided to stick around.” If birds could grin, she would be. “What? Don’t give me that shocked look.”

“You just… don’t seem very fond of humans.”

“I’m not!” She chirped, “But I’m curious.”

“Oh… well…” I reached for one of my empty pokeballs.

“Oh, no-no-no. I am not getting in one of your oppression balls.”

Oh _boy_ , this was gonna be fun.

“Kaia? Alola!” I turned around at the sound of my name, and was greeted by the yellow glow of a blonde-haired friend.

She was even prettier than I remembered. Her hair, once kept under a large-brimmed hat, was now tied up in a ponytail. Her heavy duffle bag had been replaced with a lightweight backpack, shuffling slightly and hinting at her friend’s presence inside. She was almost radiating from the sunset behind her.

Hau stepped out from behind Lillie. He was wearing a casual tank and his signature orange shorts, his black hair matching hers in style. At his side was his Torracat, Tsuo, who looked immensely pleased with his appearance.

“Howzit?” He waved, almost too casually, even for me.

“I- I’m good.” I stuttered.

“We were super worried about you!” Lillie said, running her hand across the bottom of my hair. “Did you cut your hair?”

“Oh, uh…”

“And you’re all scratched up! Is that a bruise in your--”

“Lillie,” I fought to keep the frustration out of my voice, “I already have one mother.”

“O-oh, right, sorry.” She blinked, receiving a chuckle out of Hau.

“We heard you had a bit of a problem, down at the trial site, eh pal?” Hau asked, tilting his head in a way I had come to understand as showing concern. I raised an eyebrow, barely containing laughter.

“Pal?”

“Just a new thing I’m trying out.” He exclaimed, giving me a thumbs-up. “Better than Kukui with his ‘cousin’ shtick.”

 _This_ induced Lillie into a giggling fit.

“But yeah… it was pretty bad.” I replied, heaving a sigh. “I’m assuming you completed the trial, Hau?”

“Yeah!” He hollered, raising a proud fist. Tsuo leapt up beside him, though he was focused on eyeing Gabrielle in a not-very-polite manner. “It was pretty tough! Though I’m assuming you had it worse…”

“Oh!” Lillie exclaimed, grabbing for her bag. “That reminds me.”

Quickly, she drew out three pokeballs from her bag. “Happy belated birthday, Kaia!”

I blinked, taking a look at each. “What… are these?”

“Eevees!” Hau could barely contain his excitement, if his bobbing up and down were any indication. “Newly bred and looking for a new home, courtesy of Dr. Stirling!”

My eyes widened, taking another look at the pokeballs. Eevee… a pokemon native to Kanto and Kalos, it was extremely rare in those places, and basically impossible to find anywhere else. Mom must have paid a fortune for these…

“ _Eevee_.” Gabrielle scoffed, taking a curious look at each of the containers. “Overrated, if you ask me. My Kalosian cousin told me that they do nothing but bother over there.”

“Well, no one asked you.” I murmured to her.

Hau blinked at me. “Yeah… that’s gonna take some getting used to.”

Lillie shrugged. “Lots of people in my family can do it. My brother and my mom.”

Lillie’s family was comprised of Fallers? That’s… an interesting tidbit. I wondered if Lillie had told Mum that.

“Anywho!” Hau pointed at the eevees again. “Since it’s your birthday, Kaia, you can choose first!”

I nodded, grabbing the one in the center of Lillie’s hands. Hau reached for the one on the right, leaving Lillie with the one on the left. Together, we released our eevees. Each appeared in a flash of light.

Hau’s was the smallest of the bunch by far. The slight curls of her coat and the fact that her ears were much larger indicated her gender (female). Lillie’s, also female, was a decent amount larger, but was distinguished by darker paws on her feet, a rare birth condition for eevees. Mine, however, was a decent amount larger than either of his sisters, and had completely straight fur. I tried to ignore the incredible amount of chatter coming from both the eevees and their trainers.

“Wow, hi little guy!” Hau exclaimed, crouching down next to his eevee.

“That’s a girl, Hau.” I murmured.

“Oh.” Hau shuffled awkwardly. “Hi, girl.”

“And mine, Kaia?” Lillie asked, hesitating over her own pokemon.

“Also a female. Mine’s the only boy.”

“Wow!” Lillie’s eyes widened. “Aren’t female eevee fairly rare? Thus why they’re fairly rare in general?”

“Yeah!” I nodded, clenching my fists together. “No one is actually sure why, but there are tons of hypotheses online! Like, there’s this one extremely interesting article that theorizes that eevee favours certain chromosomes during the meiosis pro--”

“ _Kaia_.” Hau chuckled. “I think Lillie was just looking for a yes or no."

I tried to hide the crestfallen look that came over my face.

“Either way, I guess we should get to naming, huh?”

“Oh, yeah!” Hau was _extremely_ excited, if his volume was anything to indicate. “You go first, Lillie!”

“Hm… How about…” Lillie considered, looking her eevee up and down. “How about Elodie?”

“Hmm.” The newly-dubbed Elodie nodded confidently. “An excellent epithet.”

“What about you, Kaia?” Hau stared at me expectantly.

“Oh. Um… Why not.. Soren?”

“I like it, miss!” Soren exclaimed, nearly trampling his youngest sister.

“I guess that leaves me?” Hau contemplated for a moment. “Why not… Lucy?”

“It’s neat.” She smiled meekly at him.

“Elodie, Soren, Lucy.” I smiled instinctively. “What a lovely birthday present.”

“Thanks for sharing it with us!” Lillie giggled, slowly reaching a hand to touch Elodie. The eevee accepted the pet confidently. “This is… different. Petit is more fluffy, whereas Nebby is more… gaseous.”

Hau picked Lucy up in his arms as Tsuo sniffed her curiously. She squirmed, unused to being picked up.

“So, Kaia. What are you up to?” Hau asked, his signature grin still plastered on his face.

“Oh… not much, I guess.”

“Well, we need to go celebrate for real!” He exclaimed, glancing around the strip. “Now that we’re all over eighteen…”

“...Oh no.” Lillie’s eyes grew narrow, shivering intensely.

“Why do I feel like I don’t want to be here for this part?” Gabrielle murmured in my ear.

I was inclined to agree.

* * *

“This is my Z-Powered Form! HIYAH!”

I had never had alcohol, aside from one or two cans at high school parties. Nothing had prepared me for actual alcohol. No more than three shots and I was nearly ready to keel over.

Clearly, nothing had prepared Lillie for this either. Her knees were pressed against the leather of the booth as her arms twisted in a strange motion, arms stretching out diagonally before coming together to form a z-like symbol. Afterwards, she flexed her arms proudly.

“Your- your what? What?” I asked. “What?”

“Z-Powered Form! Like the Totems! And your bracelet!” She flexed again, letting loose another shout. “I am at the PEAK OF MY POWER!”

“She always gets like this,” Hau laughed, taking a sip of his water. “I’ve considered videotaping it, so she can enjoy it tomorrow.”

“I… I don’t think Lils is the type of person who would appreciate the extraordinary quality of quality art,” I responded, placing a hand to my head.

“Hey! You!” Lillie had turned towards the balding man in the booth behind her. “You dare challenge Z-Lillie to a trial by combat?”

“Oh boy.” Hau looked like he was barely keeping in a squee. “She’s reached ‘Third-Person Lillie’.”

“...Hau. I feel like you take too much glee in this, Hau.” I pulled Lillie back down into her seat. “How are you still perfectly fine?” I asked, before snorting. “ _Hau_ are you still perfectly fine? Geddit?”

“Wow, you three are clearly bastions of humanity,” Gabrielle commented from her spot on my shoulder. She and Tsuo were the only pokemon still out; the eevees had been returned to their pokeballs, and Nebby was resting in Lillie’s bag.

“Lighten up, toots,” Tsuo growled from beside Hau, “They’re just having fun.”

“They’re acting like imbeciles!” She retorted, glaring at Lillie specifically.

Meanwhile, Hau was explaining his ways to me. “Well, growing up around someone like Kahuna Hala,” He took a sip of his water, hiding his devious grin, “You learn certain tricks.”

“Oh?” I did my best to waggle an eyebrow. Judging by Hau’s laughter, I didn’t do a very good job. “And what, pray tell, are some of the Great Hau’s secrets?”

He motioned to his water. I blinked blearily at it. “Water?”

“Yeah.”

“Huh.”

“What was that like?” I asked, leaning my elbows onto the table. “Growing up with the Kahuna as a role model.”

His face darkened slightly. “It was neat, but difficult. Everyone’s always expecting things of you, and--”

“You cannot keep Z-Lillie contained, brother!” Despite her bluster, Lillie was having a hard time pulling out of my grip. Eventually, her energy wore out, and she sunk into her seat. “Z-Lillie… powering… off…”

I rubbed my forehead as Lillie slumped against me, eyes barely open. I tried to clear my clouded thoughts. “Hau, did any of us think to get a room or anything in advance?”

“...Probably?” He raised his glass.

“Woo! Woo for probably!” I raised mine in return.

_Clink!_

* * *

_BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP..._

“Ugh.” I slammed my hand against the clock, sending it toppling off the bedside table. “Who the hell sets an alarm for--” Oh.

12:30 PM. Almost checkout time.

Besides the embarrassment of sleeping in so late, I felt overwhelming pain as I sat up. Clutching my forehead, I took a look around the room. It was a hotel room of moderate expense. Two beds (one of which I currently occupied) and a couch. In the bed across the room from me, I noted a bundle of blonde hair and blue gas. Nebby and Lillie.

Bedsheets were strewn across the floor, as were various bags and articles of clothing. I noted that my shorts and shoes were still on, but my light jacket and tank had been removed and tossed across the room, leaving only my undershirt on. This was not a surprise, considering my night sleeping habits + intoxication. My pokeball belt was off, laying casually on the floor next to Lillie’s bag, which had been nearly ripped open at some point in the night. Near the couch, Hau’s bag was placed neatly, alongside his folded laundry.

As I moved to pick up the clock, I noticed a small yellow pad of paper sitting near the clock’s previous position. I picked it up, surprised to see a note from Hau.

_Hey girls, it’s Hau. I went down to find some lunch. Lillie, you know the drill, Kaia, this is (most likely) your first time, so remember:_

_1\. Drink lots of water!_  
2\. Have a shower once you’re feeling a little better! I’m not gonna say you stink, but…  
3\. Try to eat some of the food I left on the counter. It’ll help, I promise, even if it doesn’t feel like it.  
4\. There’s a puke bucket in the bathroom, the staff specifically requested you throw up in there if we can, rather than the toilet.  
5\. Checkout time is at 1:30. I set the alarm for 12:30, hope neither of you need it though.  
6\. Please don’t die. This should be #1 but please don’t die. I didn’t check for pulses, so…

_Good luck!  
Hau_

I grinned like an idiot.

Pulling myself out of bed, I went over to check on Lillie. She was still dressed in most of her clothes, missing one boot and one sock (somehow, from different feet).

“Pew!” Nebby exclaimed as she saw me.

“...It’s strange that I don’t understand you, huh, Nebby?” I asked, hoping not to wake Lillie until it was absolutely vital. I began to make some coffee to ease this headache.

“Pew?”

“...Man, this is pretty hard. I guess I got lucky.”

As I was filling a cup of freshly-made coffee, a knock echoed from the balcony window. Glancing at Nebby in confusion, I walked towards it. I flung it open and took in the Alolan breeze.

“Oh good, you’re awake.” Gabrielle, my new friend, glared at me as I stepped onto the balcony.

“What… what happened?”

“Oh, well, the hotel was a “no pokemon outside pokeballs” area, and you told me you would let me in when you came upstairs.” She chirped, hopping closer and closer to me. “How do you forget something after barely any time has passed?”

I groaned. “I-- I’m sorry, Gabrielle. That was wrong of me.”

She huffed, ruffling her tail feathers. “Yes, it was. Thank you for the apology.

“Man, I don’t remember _anything_ ,” I explained, taking a seat in the chair on the balcony.

“Well, it was certainly something.” She chirped, seemingly contented. “And knowing that you don’t remember only makes it better!”

“Oh, c’mon…!” I growled, sipping my coffee in frustration. “You gotta give me some--!”

I started at the sound of the glass door opening once more, revealing Lillie with a cup of coffee. “Now you see why I don’t go out with Hau very often.” She laughed. Nebby pewed behind her.

“Yeah,” I muttered, clutching my head again, “Do you remember anything from last night?”

Lillie flushed bright red. “Well, I… I briefly remember pretending I was Hulk Hawlucha, and…” She trailed off, her pale cheeks glowing even brighter. “ _...and_ what about you?”

“Uh-uh, no way.” I put my foot down, sending a glare in her direction. “What happened, Lil?”

“Well, I, uh…” She scratched her head awkwardly. “I think I made a move on Hau?”

“Ah, beautiful.” Gabrielle chirped, seeing my stunned expression. “That face makes it all worth it.”


	20. nineteen: under my skin

_just like fire, burnin' up the way  
_ _if i could light the world up for just one day_

 

“Awkward.”

Silence.

“Awkwaaaaard.”

A beat.

“I said, awkwaaaaar--”

“Excuse me? Gabrielle, right?” Lani’s voice was kind, though I was familiar enough with Lani to know when she was being sweet and when she was being ‘sweet’. This was definitely the latter. “Please be quiet, or I will personally punt you back into the wild.”

“You don’t have legs, moron,” Gabrielle huffed, glaring down at the water type.

“I don’t _need them_.”

“...Okay, shutting up now.”

I rolled my eyes, sending each of them a glare. “Hey, guys? Less talking, more training.”

“What’s up with you?” I felt Luso’s heated gaze on me.

“Shut it, murderer.” Iro’s fury was evident to see.

“Get over it, dude.”

“You want to say that to my fucking face?” Iro had now approached the mankey, stance displaying his aggression.

“I just did, didn’t I?” Luso wasn’t backing down either. I could see the rage building in his eyes.

“Guys, I’m not going to ask again. Train in your assigned partners.” I resisted the urge to plant my head in my hands. Fortunately, they all returned back to their initial partnering.

After last night, I decided to head up onto Route 6 for some training. Unfortunately, there was still tons of refugee camps planted around that area, as police were still wary about potential Beast Attacks. This made training… a bit of a challenge. So, we moved over to the Paniola Ranch, and morale was… low. Gabrielle refused to fight, Soren was too entranced with Gabrielle’s feathers to actually pay attention, Iro and Luso kept getting into scuffles, Keyki didn’t enjoy battling at all. Only Lani seemed to be giving any actual effort, but she had become a bit moody recently.

“I don’t--” Keyki dodged one of Iro’s practice blows. “--even get why we’re training.” She then made a strike, which her partner avoided expertly.

“There’s a tournament being held tomorrow in Royal Ave,” I replied, waggling my phone, “Hau sent me the details. Prize money is pretty good, and frankly, we’re running a little low on supplies.”

“Isn’t that a little dangerous?” Lani stopped her movement to look at me. “Staying in one place for so long?”

“Why would that be dangerous?” Gabrielle glanced up at me, keeping Soren at bay with her talon. “Are you worried you’re gonna run into your friends going to town--”

“Annnd this conversation is stopping. Right now.” Judging by her nervous bounce, my glare worked at shutting her up.

“Going to town? Which town?” Soren looked up at me, with his adorable brown eyes. I gave him a light pat on the head.

“It’s not important, just ignore her.”

“But her feathers are soooo soft!” He whined, hopping up and down slightly.

Rubbing between his ears, I glanced back up at the sparring pokemon. I tried to decide who to use in the first round tomorrow, scribbling some notes on the subject in my notebook.

 _Lani_ : While initially not a strong battler, she had really developed into her own… this had mostly started since Heahea, though it could have been when she evolved as well… regardless, she had powerful water and fairy moves, but she was a little slow outside of water. Either way, a strong choice no matter what.

 _Luso_ : Possibly the strongest on my team, power-wise, but completely disobediant. Luso had his own way of doing things, sometimes successfully, sometimes less so. In fact, it was a small miracle that he was even doing these spars. It seemed that our leadership styles were alike in this matter. Either way, I’m not entirely sure I can trust him in an official match.

 _Iro_ : He and Lani compete for the most loyal pokemon on the team, so in some ways, this makes him the antithesis of Luso. Still, he’s not the most powerful pokemon on the team… According to the pokedex, he should be evolving relatively soon, but until then, he’s a bit of a weak link. Well, not the weakest link, of course...

 _Keyki_ : Don’t get me wrong, I love the girl, but she’s too kind for battling. Unlike Lani, who can shed her emotions and rely on pure instinct during a battle, Keyki is constantly in her head, psyching herself out. Not all pokemon are battlers, I know this, but I can’t send her to the PC, or Iro would lose his crap. Technically, it’s my choice, but I couldn’t do that to Iro. Maybe once I get enough money to splurge on a Sun Stone (or get lucky enough to find one in the wild), she’ll be more confident. Plus, she’s a lot of fun to have around! She’s just… not the right choice, for the competition.

 _Gabrielle and Soren_ : Yeah, neither of these two are options. Elle is… disobediant for the sake of it, and Soren is still a little too weak to go up against the opponents we’ll be facing. Plus, Elle refuses to get inside a pokeball, so I couldn’t even register her anyway. At least she’s been helpful with Soren, as much as she’d tell you otherwise. That little guy has the energy of a dozen zigzagoon.

I sighed. This was gonna be harder than I expected.

* * *

“Welcome, ladies and gentleman!” His voice was booming over the microphone, distorted slightly by the television screen. His hair, blonde and pushed up into a pompadour, as well as his sunglasses were nearly iconic. “You may know me as Leo Pyrean, and this is my fellow commentator, Delilah Auraelia!”

“Thanks Leo! This is gonna be one for the history books for sure,” The woman beside him replied, her blue hair having incited one of the biggest trends in the history of fashion. Her accent was vaguely kalosian. “We’ve got a ton of great competitors here today.”

“Indeed! Eight trainers, carefully selected through intense preliminary rounds, each vying for the cash prize of 100,000 pokedollars!” He leaned into his mic, excitement racing through his eyes. Part of me wondered if it was merely a formality, a play for the cameras.

I took a deep breath, adjusting the pokeball in my hand. The arena on Royal Avenue was pretty advanced; each competitor got their own dressing room, and there were TVs scattered throughout the building, giving a perfect view of the action. It made sense, considering Royal Avenue was _the_ Alolan hotspot for tournaments. I wasn’t even sure if there were any arenas like this in Alola.

“That’s right, ladies and gentleman!” Delilah clenched her fists together, basically brimming with energy. “Over forty talented trainers showed up at our door, and we had to cut it down to _just eight_! These are the best of the best.”

In some ways, I was fairly certain I had gotten lucky when it came to the preliminaries. Most of the people I had battled against were fairly new trainers with unevolved pokemon. Hau was also in the competition, luckily. Part of me hoped I would face him, and the other part hoped I wouldn’t.

“Now, Delilah, for all the new viewers,” said Leo, making idle chatter with his co-host, “Why don’t you remind us the rules for the tournament?”

“Sure thing, Leo! This is standard solo-single League rules! One pokemon each, first pokemon down loses!” She did an energetic pose, and there was a cheer from the crowd behind her. “It’s sure to be a good day! Why don’t you introduce our competitors to the audience, Leo?”

“Gladly, Delilah!”

The first round proceeded pretty quickly. I ended up battling a girl of fourteen or fifteen, the youngest you could possibly be with a training licence, and it went about as expected. Not to say she didn’t put up one hell of a good fight. The fact that she managed to battle her way to the actual competition should have told me not to underestimate her.

It began with us sending out our pokemon. For her partner, she had chosen a ribombee that the announcers had called “Alice”.

Fragments of memories.

Sage, staring out at the ocean with me.

Sage, curling up on the brim of my hat.

Sage, punctured through the torso.

I froze.

Fortunately, Iro made up for my weakness. I had decided to use him, despite Lani being the logically superior candidate. He quickly dealt with the ribombee, which was fortunately fairly frail.

My gut told me that Iro needed a win as much as I did right now.

* * *

Another surprise? Gladion was here.

He wasn’t using his Null, surprisingly. Instead, he was using what appeared to be some sort of sneasel. It had very strange markings across its torso and arms, its dark fur now striped with white. Together, they were facing off against another boy and his gumshoos. I was surprised that I hadn’t noticed him during the preliminaries yesterday, but considering how hectic it was, I understood why it was a possibility.

Either way, Gladion and the sneasel swiftly destroyed the gumshoos. It honestly would’ve only taken one hit, but they both seemed to enjoy taunting their prey.

Hau was next. He and his pikachu, Zip, were eager and ready to do battle. I knew Lillie was in the stands, cheering him on just like she had been for me. She had offered to watch Gabrielle while I competed, considering the arena kept everyone’s other pokeballs secure during the match.

Hau was born for a life of this. It was evident by the way he strutted out on-stage, goofy grin and large smile. I wondered how he put up with the pressure of it all.

But that was Hau for you. Always dependable, always cool under pressure.

It was infuriating.

He faced off against an older man, probably in his late fifties, with a tropius. He struggled, surprisingly, despite the types aligning in his favour. The plant-beast could barely touch Zip with its wind strikes, but still, Hau was having some trouble going full offensive. He eventually won, but as Delilah pointed out, it wasn’t likely that he would move on past the second round.

I wasn’t sure whether that made me happy or sad.

* * *

The second round began after lunch. Gladion was matched with the other trainer who progressed, a woman who appeared to be in her late twenties. I recalled from the first round, she used a Mudsdale, an intimidatingly large horse with large, mud-caked hooves. I had never actually seen one in person; my dad usually splurged for the Rapidash whenever we went riding.

Of course, this meant that I was matched up with Hau.

“Don’t go easy on me, Kay!”

Hau stood in front of me, hands behind his head, grin ever-present. I could hear the commentators discussing us in the distance, but my focus was entirely on him.

“Why the hell are you so carefree all the time?” The words were harsher than I intended, judging by Hau’s shocked reaction.

“...Kaia, what’s going on?” If his expression didn’t reveal his hurt, his words did.

“...Let’s just fight.”

I turned, walking back towards my position on the opposite side of the arena. I quickly sent out Iro, who skidded onto the battlefield eagerly. Hau had gone to his position, and was staring me down.

I glanced away.

I could hear the crowd’s energy picking up as Zip entered the battlefield. Hau was clearly a crowd favourite, despite someone lacking in skill. His charm and easygoing nature allowed him to win over people where battle might not.

I would prove them wrong. I was better, and I would prove it.

His lips moved, but the crowd was so loud now, I couldn’t hear him.

“Iro,” I called, and the rattata perked to attention, “He’s fast. Be prepared for a quick attack, or a double team.”

“Right.” I saw his claws appear from his paws, his fur bristle, and then he went down onto four paws. He was ready.

So was I.

“Let the battle begin!” I heard Delilah’s call, and I tuned everything out.

“Iro, vortex maneuver!” My call was immediate, and Iro’s reactions were immediate.

Iro darted to the right, then to the left, creating a zig-zag pattern. Zip remained in place, watching Iro dart towards him. He remained still, waiting--

In a flash of light, the pikachu split into seven different copies of himself, each appearing in different places on the battlefield. I had expected this. Iro was prepared for this.

He continued to dash around, slamming into each of the illusions at a rapid pace. They managed to land a few blows on him as he struck, but the sheer speed of the maneuver allowed him to escape majorly unharmed.

I saw Hau shout something, and just as Iro moved to strike the second-last illusion, it exploded in a flash of electricity. This sent Iro flying, and my concentration was momentarily shaken as the crowd roared in excitement.

Hau was clever. He had learned since we last fought.

“Iro, recover,” I called, scanning the battlefield, “Don’t let him gain an advantage over you!”

Iro pushed himself off the ground, shrugging his shoulder and testing its movement. Even as he did, I could see his eyes scanning his surroundings.

We were clever too.

Zip darted from behind, but Iro was ready. He whirled around, biting the pikachu’s arm as he struck, and tossed him to the ground. Zip tossed his other arm up, zapping Iro with electricity.

“Iro! Get out of there if you have to!”

Iro let go of his arm, attempting to dart away. Zip was ready for this, and raced after him. Despite Iro’s speed, pikachu were just faster. He slammed the rattata to the ground, and shocked him again.

And then there was a light. I’d seen it before: while fighting Hala. While fighting the Totem Raticate. Iro shined, and underneath the sudden release of power into the environment, I could see his form shifting. He grew longer, wider. His teeth grew, his tail became skin-like and long.

The crowd was entirely silent as Iro finished evolving into raticate.

He looked different than the Totem. He was less wide proportionally, with less puffy cheeks. He resembled the raticate that wandered outside Viridian City, with darker fur.

“Iro…” I spoke after a moment, feeling the rush of victory on the horizon, “Finish this.”

Power rushing through his body, Iro turned and slammed down onto Zip, who seemed too stunned to react on time. He bit into the pikachu’s side, causing blood to spit from the wound. A _ding_ echoed throughout the arena. Zip was surrounded by a blue light, known as a recovery beam, and used to forcibly retrieve pokemon in most official matches to prevent casualties.

We did it.

We won.

I felt my breath let out. I finally felt confident enough to look up at Hau.

He looked back at me.

I relished in the sadness in his eyes, and tried to ignore the pity that accompanied it.

People reacted… poorly, to my win. The fact that Hau was a fan-favourite combined with Iro’s in-battle evolution caused people to get extremely upset. A group was arguing that I ‘cheated’, despite in-battle evolutions being legal according to the official rules.

Gladion also won his battle, apparently. I didn’t bother watching it.

I knew he would.

* * *

“Hm. So, you survived.”

I felt Gladion’s hand tighten around mine as we shook, perhaps a little too tight.

“Yep.”

“And you can talk to your pokemon, same as me.”

I froze. Turning my head slowly to look at him, he stared back down, green eyes vaguely familiar.

“How--”

“Your mankey mentioned it. When he asked me to save you.”

“Oh.”

Dropping my hand, he walked back towards his position on the edge of the battlefield. Still shocked, I returned to mine as well, and released Iro.

“Iro, remember, he’s using a sneasel,” I said, kneeling beside him, “It’ll be much faster than you, especially now. Play defensively. Watch for breaks in his strikes.”

“Gotcha,” He replied, glaring towards Gladion, who was rubbing his wrist, a grimace on his face.

“Ladies and gentleman…” I could hear Leo’s voice, nearly blaring now. “Welcome to the Finals of the Fourth Royal Avenue Intermediate Tournament!”

As he blathered on about the rules, almost certainly for the TV audience who was just tuning in, one of the staff approached me, handing me a headset.

“What’s this for?” I asked, taking it from him.

“Sound enhancement for the TV edit of the battle,” He explained as I put it on, adjusting the microphone. “It’ll make it so we can get a clear example of your commands.”

“Oh. Alright.”

He smiled at me. “I know it seems arbitrary, but surely you remember what it was like to be a kid and want to mimic the commands you saw on TV.”

I did remember doing... something like that.

Clench. Unclench. Clench. Unclench. Every squeeze of my hands sent a rush through my body. The systemic motion kept me sane as the timer slowly ticked downwards.

“Attention folks… it seems like there’s been a substitution.”

My breath caught in my throat.

“Gladion Darke’s sneasel has come down with illness. In favour of not disappointing our fans, we’ve allowed him to substitute with one of his other pokemon.”

On the other side of the arena, Gladion was smiling. Not a peaceful smile, or an energetic smile. A gloating smile. But it wasn’t directed at me. He was staring directly at a nearby camera.

From his belt, a familiar hulking figure appeared, and any noise within the audience was immediately quelled. To my right, a girl pulled out a blue pokedex, one of the mass-produced versions (they weren’t able to register pokemon new pokemon, as mine was), and attempted to scan Null.

“NO DATA AVAILABLE” blared across the screen.

“Now, Leo, what exactly is this creature?” Delilah’s voice echoed in the stadium.

“On the registration forum, Mr. Darke registered it as a ‘Type: Null’. Apparently, a newly discovered pokemon breed!”

Whispers spread throughout the crowd.

“It certainly looks new, Leo. That means the public will be seeing this creature’s capabilities for the first time here! What an honour!”

A cheer rose from the crowd. I began to breath again.

I could do it. I had done it before.

“And with that, folks…” Leo’s voice boomed on the mic. “Let the battle begin!”

Iro immediately launched into battle, skidding slightly. He was clearly still getting used to his new body. That would be an issue.

“Iro, be wary! This thing looks slow, but it can strike extremely quick!” I shouted, clenching my fists again.

Gladion stared me down, but didn’t command Null to do anything.

Iro approached the creature warily, circling him with ease. Null didn’t react beyond shifting his helmet to stare at Iro as he ran.

He dove. Two scratches, along Null’s underbelly.

No reaction, beyond a slight flinch.

I realized too late.

“Iro, get out--”

The boom echoed throughout the stadium.

Blinking, I tried to see what was going on. Iro was pinned underneath one of Null’s big, bug claws, several red scratch-marks down his face.

“Not many survive a single blow from Null,” Gladion growled from across the way, and I took the time to glare at him. “Finish it off, Null.”

“Iro, quick! Endeavour!” I watched as Iro bit into the chimaera just as he pulled his leg back to strike. Teeth digging in, Null flinched, stepping off Iro and allowing the Raticate to scamper out of harm’s way.

Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out.

Iro looked rough. Now that he was out from under Null, I could see the scratches running down his back and stomach.

“Iro, try--”

“Null, finish this.”

With a surprising speed, Null launched at Iro, his helmet hardening into steel. Iro, too weak to properly defend, was hit by the brunt force of the attack, knocking him off-balance.

“Iro, recover!”

Blue. The blue light surrounded him, sending him to the medbay.

The battle was over. Before it had even really began.

Leo ran out from the stands, approaching Gladion.

“And the winner of our prize, Mr. Gladion Darke!” He exclaimed, and the crowd roared. “How are you feeling, Gladion? Anyone you want to make it out to?”

“Yes,” He responded, and I saw the taunting smile return to his face as he stared directly at the camera, “My mother.”

* * *

I spent the rest of the day talking with various audience members. I wanted to leave, but Iro was still in surgery, so instead I was forced to talk about ‘what I would do differently’ and ‘how this affected me’.

Eventually, as dusk began to settle in, I fled the stadium to go collect my thoughts.

“Kaia!” I stopped in my tracks as Hau’s voice pierced my ears. “Wait up!”

Sighing, I turned to face him. Absent was his usual smile, instead, a look of worry was smeared on his mug.

“What do _you_ want?”

“Okay, what is your problem?” He asked, his voice raising for the first time. People began to stare at us, and I shied away from him.

“Nothing, Hau.” I couldn’t keep the hostility out of my voice.

“No, something’s up! You have been acting strange since the bar. Hell, even before that!” He couldn’t keep the desperation out of his. “Just tell me what’s going on.”

“Just ask your girlfriend.” I pulled out of his grasp, walking away.

It felt good to hurt him.

I wasn’t sure why.


	21. twenty: the sting of flames

_we can't decide what we should be  
_ _should we just put this fire out  
_ _or cover it in kerosene?_

 

Pain.

“Kaia!”

I felt her hand on my arm. Throbbing, annoying, unwieldy pain.

Hand on my head, I turned to face a blonde-haired figure. Lillie.

“Kaia, stop,” her voice was soothing, yet stern. At her full height, Lillie was a few inches taller than me at best, and yet somehow, she managed to cast an authoritative presence. “What’s going on? Hau told me what you said to him. Are you upset at me?”

I wasn’t certain how to answer that.

“...What happened to Gabrielle?” I tried to ignore the itching part in the back of my brain that was telling me to snap.

“She’s doing me a quick favour…” She trailed off, glancing backwards at the Royal Avenue Arena, which was still glowing yellow as the moon slowly rose into the sky. “Actually, can I ask you a question?”

“What?”

“That guy you were battling. Gladion?” She looked at her feet, scratching her head awkwardly. “Do you have any way to contact him?”

Fists clenching -- blood pumping -- mind clouding.

“What, you need more than one boyfriend?”

She looked hurt. I was proud of putting that look on her face.

That didn’t sound like me.

Pain -- blood rushing -- shallow breaths.

“Tell Gabrielle I’ll be on Route 7 when she’s done whatever you need.” I turned and began towards the gate.

“I... Kaia, I--” Lillie stuttered behind me.

I was already walking.

She didn’t follow me.

* * *

As I reached the start of Route 7, moon hanging overhead, I breathed a sigh.

My headache began to disappear.

The route was craggy and grandiose; volcanic rock lined the western side of the extremely wide road, and placing my hand to it revealed its slight warmth to the touch. To the east was the ocean, expansive and blue as ever, even in the dim moonlight. About a mile ahead, burrowing directly through the side of Wela Volcano, was a large tunnel that lead to Route 8. Just a bit before that was a small side path that, according to locals, led straight to the trial site.

I took a deep breath, listening to the sounds of the ocean and the night.

That entire city had been stressing me out. In the few hours since the tournament, people had been bugging me with questions about ‘what I could do differently’, ‘how much of it was my fault’, and ‘how embarrassing was it to lose on national tv?’.

It felt good to get away, back into nature.

“I guess I should wait for Gabrielle before heading towards the next trial location,” I said to no one in particular. Finding a seat on a nearby rock, I pulled out my phone and quickly checked out some stuff online about the next trial.

According to ‘vulpix_love99’, this trial was dominated by fire-types, just as the last had been dominated by water. It was also the most physically intensive trial. Fortunately, I had been a track runner in high-school, so that would probably be no problem for me.

As I was scrolling through comments about the trial, including what a ‘hunk’ the captain was, (which… ugh), my phone beeped, indicating a text.

Nate.

I quickly typed out a reply.

[8:53PM] N: Hey  
[8:53PM] K: ...Should I prepare myself for mockery?  
[8:53PM] N: Wow, I thought you knew me well  
[8:53PM] N: Of course you should  
[8:54PM] K: So, you saw it then?  
[8:55PM] N: Of course! We all watched it  
[8:55PM] K: ...I can never show my face at home now  
[8:55PM] N: Relax, cuz. You did good!  
[8:55PM] K: I made a fucking fool out of myself  
[8:56PM] N: Well, I’m not denying that  
[8:56PM] N: Shouldn’t be so hard on yourself though. You made it to the finals of an Intermediate tournament after starting your journey less than a month ago  
[8:56PM] N: You clearly have talent. Some people train for years and don’t reach your level  
[8:58PM] K: I couldn’t… do anything. Iro and I did our best, but that other guy, Gladion… he destroyed us  
[8:58PM] N: He used a pokemon that’s completely unheard of. You couldn’t know that he had Rage in his arsenal  
[8:59PM] K: I guess…  
[8:59PM] N: How is everything else? This message is sponsored by: the most annoying aunt and uncle ever

I held the phone away from my face, considering how to respond. There were many, many ways to answer that question. “I’m being chased by dimension-warping creatures hellbent on my destruction”, “I’m pissed at my friends for no conceivable reason”, and “I’ve nearly died at least three times in the past two weeks” were all extremely valid answers.

[9:01PM] K: Fine

I locked my phone at the sound of flapping wings. Glancing upwards, I noted the red bird slowly flying towards me. She circled in the air for a moment, before landing on the ground, flexing her claws.

“Man, way to pick the most camouflaged spot imaginable,” She growled, ruffling her feathers.

“Yeah, yeah,” I replied, waving her off, “So you finished your errand then?”

“...Are you mad at me for helping your friend?”

“No, I just--”

“Listen, Kaia.” She hopped up onto a rock near mine, and gave me the most bird-like glare imaginable. “I haven’t known you for all that long, but I’m not gonna stick around if you don’t cool it.”

I was struck by her tone for a few seconds. I could feel my face contort in rage, rage I didn’t even think was valid, as I went to respond, “What do you mean, ‘cool it’?”

“I mean, I was just trying to help one of your friends find her brother, but--”

It was like that phrase broke the hold of some spell over me. I could feel all the tension drain out of my muscles, and I lowered my head, processing the information. I slumped into the rock wall behind me, staring at my hands. At some point in my rage, I had left little gashes in my palms.

“Gladion is Lillie’s brother?” I asked quietly. Gabrielle looked at me, confusion on her face.

“I guess? That’s what she told me. She said if I found him, he would be able to understand me like you can.”

Everything clicked together. Lillie’s mention of her brother being a Faller, her concern about Gladion after the tournament, her reaction at the boyfriend com--

Oh.

“Fuuuuuck,” I murmured, placing my head in my hands.

“Thought so.”

I didn’t talk for the rest of the night. Gabrielle seemed eager to sit and gloat at my misfortune, and I was eager to wallow in my embarassment for a while longer. Finding a small alcove in the volcanic rock, I quickly grabbed a blanket from my bag and set up camp. The stone, still warm to the touch, provided a soothing heat to my rest.

Soon, I was cast into the abyss of dreams.

* * *

“Right! Welcome to Wela Volcano proper.”

In some ways, vulpix_love99 and the rest were right: Trial Captain Kiawe was tall, fit, and handsome. Dark alolan skin, brown hair with orange highlights styled like fire (sidenote: why do people who train one kind of pokemon dress up? It looks dorky, and it’s never made sense to me), muscular and eager to show it. His baggy red shorts and loose overshirt, tossed casually over his shoulders revealing a toned stomach. Any girl with a brain would find him attractive.

It’s too bad he was a wetter blanket than I was.

I had woken up earlier than usual the next day, both eager and nervous for the upcoming trial. It had been a while since my last proper trial, nearly 3 weeks, and the trial deadline was approaching faster and faster. We’d met up with Kiawe in the small park at the base of the volcano, and he quickly proved himself to be incredibly serious.

“So. There lies the trial.” He nodded to the cavern in front of us, leading into the volcano. “Your goal is to reach the top and grab the astralium.”

“That’s it?” I asked, crossing my arms. “That’s all?”

“...No.” He pulled out a piece of black fabric from his pocket. “Here you go.”

“What… is this?” I took the time to examine the fabric, but it appeared ordinary.

“A blindfold,” He explained, expression unchanging upon seeing my look of shock. “This trial is designed to test your teamwork and cooperation with your pokemon, as well as their ability to function with an incapacitated leader.”

Somehow, I felt like this trial would be harder if one couldn’t understand pokemon.

He glanced down at my trainer belt. “I shall randomly select two of your partners to accompany you.”

“Wait,” I said, feeling a shudder run up my back, “Randomly?” I slowly unbuckled my belt, watching my five pokeballs dangle from their sockets with bated breath. Gabrielle shuffled angrily on my shoulder as she got a good look at my pokeballs again. She really has a problem with them, apparently.

I watched Kiawe glance over each of the pokeballs, biting my lip. I had fairly good relationships with four of the five, with the one exception being--

“Ugh, you again?”

...Luso.

I crouched down next to the mankey, putting on my fakest smile. “Hey buddy…” I stuck my hand out for a high-five. “Ready to do this trial with me, buddy?”

He blinked at me. “...Answer me honestly: are you having a stroke?”

His other choice was Lani, thank Arceus, because this was a fire-type trial and she would hopefully put Luso in his place if he got too rowdy. Soon, the three of us were staring down the cavern.

“Isn’t this like,” I gulped as I felt the blindfold cover my eyes, plunging me into darkness, “A safety hazard?”

“Here.” I felt him press a piece of small plastic into my hand. “Blow this whistle if there’s any danger. I’ll come and get you.”

“Don’t worry, Kaia!” I could feel Lani rub against my shin. “I’ll protect you!”

“...Right.”

* * *

I could hear my footsteps begin to echo as we entered the cave. The faint blast of heat that was hitting me at the entrance was now much warmer, and I could feel sweat pooling on my skin. I shuffled along, Lani to my left and Luso to my right, trying to avoid tripping and falling on my face.

“Ok, we need to move a little to the left, Kaia,” Lani murmured, nudging me. I stopped my forward motion, taking a large step to the left, “Further,” She said, and I took another, “Okay, I think we’re good. Keep going.”

“I don’t understand this,” Luso muttered, and I could feel his fur rubbing against me, “Why don’t you just take the blindfold off, walk by yourself, then put it on before we reach the exit?”

“That’s not how the game works, Luso.” Lani replied cheerfully. “The point is the journey, not the destination, you know.”

“Keep your platitudes to yourself.”

“Kiawe probably has a way to tell if it comes off,” I pointed out. Distracted, I was unprepared as my foot caught a pebble. I stumbled forward, barely catching myself in time. “Speaking of which, mind paying attention, you two? I’d prefer not to faceplant on the stone today.”

“Sorry,” They said in unison.

I was slowly getting accustomed to my lack of sight. I began to focus all my energy into listening and feeling. I felt a small blast of steam hit my arm, warming it. I heard the clattering of pebbles as my feet smacked into them.

This was going better than expected.

“Woah…” Lani murmured, and I felt her stop beside me.

“What? What is it?” I stopped, nervously awaiting her response.

“We just walked into a huge open cavern… there’s a bunch of steam and stuff, it’s really hard to see.” I heard her breath catch in her throat.

“Oh Arceus… this will be hard. Lani, is there anyway to clear the ste--”

“Both of you, shut up.” Luso’s voice pierced our conversation. “...We shouldn’t be in here.”

“What?” Lani slid past my leg, moving towards him. “Why?”

“I know you wouldn’t understand this, humanborn,” He commented, and I felt Lani bristle at the perceived insult, “But something is weird. The natural order is off-balance.”

“How do you mean?” I asked, lowering my voice.

“This place should be filled to the brim with fire-types,” He responded, “It’s basically a paradise for them. But we haven’t encountered any.”

“So?” Lani voiced my confusion for me.

“So that’s odd! We should have at least seen a Slugma or a Magby.” I felt him move away from my leg, and could hear the pitter-patter of his feet as he moved around. “We should remain extra vigilant, especially considering our commander is voluntarily incapacitated with her stupid human ritual.”

I restrained myself from getting frustrated at his demeanor and tried to focus on what he was saying. My mind wandered back towards my previous trial, with the pokemon of Brooklet Hill becoming violent and vicious. My side throbbed at the memory of the Carvanha biting me.

“Fine. We continue, but I need you two to be extra vigilant.”

And so we continued into the cavern, and I could feel the wet steam clinging to my skin like a veil. We made it maybe thirty steps before I felt Luso stop.

“Do you hear that?”

I paused, focusing my energy. After a few moments, I caught a foreign sound, one that sent shivers up my spine.

“Weheheh.”

The voices, raspy and nearly unintelligible, were laughing to themselves. I heard the sound of dozens of entities scuttling, coming from directly above us.

Luso realized what was happening at the same time as I did. “Kaia, look--” I felt him shove my leg, toppling me to the side. I hit the ground, directly upon my Carvanha wound. I winced, trying to shrug off the pain.

“Kaia, get away!” Lani called, and I heard a blast of water. “There are tons of them!”

As though on cue, I felt several small little claws grip my shoe, pulling me towards them. I had quickly become disoriented. I could hear Lani fighting something to my right, but Luso was nowhere to be heard. I yanked my foot towards me, dislodging some of the claws. Survival instinct kicking in, I reached up to rip off my blindfold. Pain coursed through me as I felt more claws dig into my arms.

I did the only thing I could.

I rolled. Throwing myself as hard as possible, I felt the claws rip out of my skin. I descended a small slope, bracing as the rough ground pummeled me.

Pain -- Pain -- Pain.

Survive -- Survive -- Survive.

Sight -- Sight -- Si--

“cHiLD OF tHe RIfT...”

I froze, hands halfway to my blindfold. I could hear the hissing voice, feminine yet raspy, pass above me.

“gRaNT mE YouR POweR...” The voice whispered in my ear. I was frozen. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breath. I felt a set of claws paw at my backside. A tongue, running across my wounds--

“Salazzle!” The shout shook me from my stupor. I squirmed out from underneath the creature, crawling away as fast as possible.

There was a creaking intake of breath as the creature’s attention was focused on the other voice, who I quickly identified as Kiawe.

“yOU…” The salazzle growled, and I heard it advance in the opposite direction. “beGOnE FrOm thIS pLAce… OR sUFFer ThE CONseQuENceS!”

“Salazzle, please!” Kiawe’s voice was growing increasingly desperate. “Calm down! Please tell the Salandit to--” His voice abruptly cut, followed by a groan. I heard a thump.

Consequences be damned.

I ripped my blindfold off, and came face to face with the Salazzle. At least four times larger than an average Salazzle, this creature appeared positively feral, with blood (mine, most likely) coating her maw, and her purple underbelly glowed with a sickening light. I immediately adjusted to my steamy surroundings, noting the blasts of water up a slope a few feet away. Kiawe was a bit away, collapsed on the ground.

The salazzle turned her head towards me, her tongue still licking the blood from her face. She darted towards me, and I braced for a blow.

One that didn’t come.

Luso had darted out from the steam, striking her in the gut. Momentarily distracted by his attack, she left her flank wide open.

“Lani, now!” Luso called, deflecting a blow from her claws.

The brionne emerged from the mist, spraying scalding water at the lizard. It shrieked, and began flailing wildly and crying in a flurry. I heard the sound of the Salandit’s laughter once more. They were lurking in the steam.

Waiting for their chance.

Seeing my chance, I rushed past the flailing monster towards the fallen trial captain. He didn’t look good. There was a large scratch mark down his chest, bleeding profusely. I glanced back towards the battle. Lani was fighting off the hordes of Salandit, many of whom were too scared to get close to her. Luso was going hand to hand with the totem pokemon.

We needed to retreat.

Barely lifting Kiawe off the ground, I attempted to support him with my shoulder. “Guys!” I shouted, slowly shuffling back towards the exit. “Cover me, we need to leave!”

“For once, I agree.” Luso disengaged from the Salazzle and moved to my side. Lani quickly followed, her blasts of water making plenty of room.

“gET bACK hERe!” The salazzle growled, approaching us only to be stopped by a geyser from Lani. “cHilD OF tHE rIfTs!”

I had never run so fast in my life.

* * *

“Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.”

After exiting the cave, I recovered my pokeball belt and retrieved Lani and Luso. My next course of action was to find a medical center of some kind. There was nothing like that on the Royal Avenue, nothing for humans at least, so my only hope was to head north. Towards Route 8. Towards Professor Colress’ base of operations.

“Hey dude…” I murmured, supporting Kiawe as best as I could. “Now would be a great time to wake up. No? Just gonna keep bleeding out on my shirt? Alright then.”

Times like these were the times I wished I had bigger pokemon.

“Kaia?” I blinked, looking upwards. The red plumage of Gabrielle came into sight-- she had been waiting for me to complete my trial. “Arceus, Kaia, what happened? Who is that?”

“Elle-- Can you go see if you can hail anyone down?” I grunted, shifting Kiawe. “We need to get to a medical center.”

“R-right.”

I continued hobbling down the road, praying I would make it there in time.


	22. twenty-one: revelations and tribulations

_what doesn't kill you makes you stronger  
_ _stand a little taller  
_ _doesn't mean i’m lonely when i’m alone_

 

Colress’ manor was exactly how you would expect a rich, solitary researcher’s mansion to look: a large, sprawling villa, standing alone on the coastline of Route 8, overlooking the rough ocean waves. This side of the island was naturally more windy. For a moment, I felt like I would be caught by the wind and dragged into the sky.

Sorry. I get a little weird when I lose a ton of blood.

Most people do. I think.

I made sure to make sure Kiawe was, you know… _alive_. Every once in awhile. He had gone completely out cold a while back. It wasn’t a good sign, and it made my job that much harder. But we made it. I made it.

I was jamming my hand in the doorbell with a surprising amount of energy. I could hear the chime echo into the house.

I waited. Ten. Twenty. Thirty.

I jammed my finger into the doorbell again.

Nothing.

I sighed. I knew what I had to do.

The door soon flung open. “In the name of all that is holy, I’m here!” A woman, tall and fair, glared down at me. “Why on earth would ringing the doorbell two dozen times make me get here quick-- _Mon dieu_ , what happened to you two?” Her accent was vaguely Kalosian.

“P-please, help.” My knees slammed into the stone step, energy flowing out of me in an instant. “Help him.”

After that, my mind went blank. I was vaguely aware of what was happening around me, but it passed in a blur.

The woman called into the house. The weight of Kiawe was removed from me. I was helped up, escorted into the manor. A blond man greeted us, and guided me to a room on the second floor. He mentioned his name, but it didn’t register with me at all.

I lost consciousness as soon as as I hit the mattress.

* * *

I woke up a few hours later, disoriented.

The room, painted an elegant purple, was extravagant in decor and size. The king-sized bed was extremely comfortable on my back. There was a fire burning in the nearby fireplace, causing a warm glow to emanate through the room. Various paintings hung on the walls, giving the room an antiquated feel. Through the purple curtains covering the gigantic windows, I could see the orange of the sunset.

“Ah, she awakes.”

I started at the voice, echoing through the room. I quickly determined the source to be a woman, sitting in a chair a few feet away. I wasn’t entirely sure how I missed her during my scouting of the room. I blamed her purple hair and dark clothing, blending into the wall--

...Wait.

“ _Anabel_?” It was definitely her. So she _wasn’t_ just a figment of my imagination. Although, to be fair, there wasn’t anyone in the room to confirm or deny that theory. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Sitting.” A small smile tugged at her lips. “I assumed it would be obvious.”

“That’s not what I-- ugh, you know what I mean.”

“Trust me, this is merely a coincidence.” She picked up a book from her side, flipping to the center. “I was here on business when you arrived. Although it is _such_ fun to catch up with you.”

It all rushed back to me at once. “Kiawe!” I exclaimed, glancing towards the door. “Is he alright?”

“He’s recovering. You got him here just in time.” She flipped the page. “Fortunately, Cheren is a talented physician. We probably wouldn’t have been able to get either of you to a hospital on time.” She pointed towards me. “He was already in here earlier. His handiwork is evident.”

I noted the bandages wrapped around my forearms, covering the wounds inflicted by Salazzle. “...Cheren?”

“Ah. Colress’ partner.” She lowered her book again. “My apologies. I forgot that you were basically unconscious for the introductions.”

“Wait, Cheren? As in, Cheren Detante of the Unovan Gym Circuit?” I asked, hiding my embarrassment with the question.

“Mhmm.” She sat up, crossing the room towards the door. “Hurry downstairs, and we’ll redo the introductions. We’re all looking forward to meeting you.” She stopped, hand resting on the knob. “Perhaps you should go visit your friend first? He’s two doors to the left of yours.”

She departed, leaving me alone with my thoughts. After a moment, I slid out of bed, noting that I was still dressed in my bloody clothes. Finding my bag tossed casually on a chair nearby, I changed into a spare pair of clothes. I noted that my pokemon were missing from my pokeball belt.

My arms ached.

After changing into a flowing tank top and some shorts, I followed Anabel into the hallway. Expansive and poorly lit, I took note of the suits of armour lining the wall. It seemed like Colress was a fan of antiques.

“Two doors to the left,” I murmured, remembering Anabel’s words. Strolling down the hallway, I reached Kiawe’s room. I knocked quietly.

“Come in,” he murmured, and I opened the door.

His room was much like my own, paintings lining the walls, but it was painted a fierce red colour. Seemed fitting for a fire trainer. He was laying down in a bed similar to my own, tucked neatly under the golden covers. He scanned my face as I entered, and sat up as I approached him.

“Oh. It’s you.” He murmured, before glancing out of the open window. “I-- You know, I-- just wanted to thank you.”

“What?”

“You helped me, right?” He glanced down at his chest, and I noted the stitches that made their home there. “I put you in danger, and you still helped me.”

I sighed, taking a seat on the edge of his bed. “Listen, Kiawe.” I glanced up towards the ceiling. “If anyone put someone in danger, it was me.” I glanced towards my own bandages. “I tend to cause chaos wherever I go.”

“Sounds like shit,” he replied, and I couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Tell me about it.”

It felt good to laugh for a bit.

“Do you want me to bring you some food or something?” I asked, fidgeting.

“Oh it’s fine, someone brought something up earlier.” He motioned to his bedside table, where a small bowl of soup was resting, half-eaten.

“Oh. Okay.” I stood up, moving towards the door. “Have a good rest.”

“Thanks. I will.” He paused for a moment. “Oh, and Kaia?” I turned to look at him. “Here.” He dug through his bag for a bit, before revealing a small red crystal. Firium. He tossed it to me, and I barely caught it.

“You earned it.”

* * *

When I entered the living room, I wasn’t really sure what I expected. More antiquated decorations, maybe some sciency stuff?

Definitely not a habitat for various pokemon. An expanse of trees flooded out from the doorway, lit by the sun shining through the glass ceiling. To my left was a small dining area and kitchen, but everything beyond that was all natural, presumably. I could see various groups of pokemon frolicking through the habitat.

The kitchen was the only “fake” portion of the room, its tile floors giving way to green grass and dark granite counters a stark contrast against the lush green trees. I knew Colress was a biologist and a pokemon-lover, and I knew his manor was big, but I never expected this.

“Ah! She awakes.” The blond man, seated on a brown couch atop green grass, gave me a wave. He was tall, with small glasses that covered blue eyes. “I was wondering how long you’d be down for.”

“And I _told_ you,” the dark-haired man next to him responded, glaring at him, “that she was recovering from a lot. But no, you had to complain about it for the past four hours.”

I felt a blush of embarrassment cross my face. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”

I noted the others nearby. Anabel was sitting at a kitchen table poised neatly on top of a large, flat stone, nose deep in her book. Next to her was a tall man, seemingly in his mid-forties, who watched me with cautious eyes. The woman who answered the door, dressed in a dark uniform, was cleaning some nearby pokemon droppings.

Standing up, the blond man approached me, hand out. “We met earlier, but you seemed a little out of it. You are Kaia, correct?” He asked, breathing a sigh of relief when I nodded and shook his hand. “I am Colress Detante, it is a pleasure to meet you. I’m good… acquaintances with your mother and stepfather.”

I nodded again. “Pleasure to meet you, sir.”

“Oh please, Colress is fine.” He turned to the couch again. He and the dark-haired man shared a look, before the other rolled his eyes, standing up also.

“Cheren Detante, neurologist.” He extended his hand as well, and I shook it. “I helped patch you up, though it’s not my specialty.”

“Thank you very much, sir.” Unlike Colress, Cheren didn’t correct me.

“And I believe you met our live-in servant, Petunia Moreau?” He motioned to the blonde woman near the trash can.

“Charmed, madame.” The woman murmured, giving a small bow, before shuffling away.

I had heard the name Moreau before, but couldn’t put my finger on it.

“And over here,” Colress explained, leading me towards the kitchen table, “are our lovely guests. I believe you are familiar with Miss Altisse?” he asked, motioning to Anabel. After I nodded, he motioned to the man beside her. “And you are unfamiliar with Mr. Dorean?”

“That’s right.” I stuck my hand out, but the man didn’t take. Instead, he looked up at me, eyes dark and emotionless.

“So you’re one of us, then? I’m not surprised. Your dad was a bit of a douche.”

I stepped backwards, eyes wide. Anabel punched him in the shoulder. “ _Nanu_ ,” she growled.

“What? It’s true!”

My mind was still racing to process the flow of information. This ‘Nanu’ knew my father? What did he mean, ‘one of us’? Who the hell were these people?

“Kaia!” I snapped back to reality at the sound of Anabel’s voice. She stood up, glancing to Nanu then back to me. “We should talk.”

* * *

The three of us walked into the small cluster of trees that Colress’ living room featured at Anabel’s behest. She walked directly in front of me, he walked directly behind. It caused a shiver to run up my back, the same shiver that I had once felt in the mossy cavern on Route 3. Soon, we reached a small pond, where a group of Wooper were wandering and splashing.

“So, what about this conversation couldn’t happen in front of Colress and Cheren?” I asked, crossing my arms.

Anabel rubbed her head, giving a deep sigh. “Well… Did your father ever tell you how he became a faller.”

Part of me was shocked that she knew what a Faller was, considering how quiet Mum was being about it. But this was Anabel, and considering 90% of the things out of her mouth were cryptic non-sequiturs, I supposed I shouldn’t be too surprised.

“No,” I responded, scratching my bandage, “I didn’t even know he was one until recently.”

The two of them glanced at each other, giving a look that I couldn’t quite read. Eventually, Nanu sighed, and placed a hand on my shoulder.

“Look kid… Your father was a good friend of mine some twenty years back.” He gave me a moment to process this. “We both decided to do the island travels together, alongside the woman who would later become your mom, and one of Will’s friends from back in Kanto.” He sighed. “And then… it happened.”

“‘It’?”

“Partway through our trial challenge, we discovered a weird portal in the Verdant Cavern. Will, his friend, and I accidentally fell inside it.”

“...Wait. You guys actually _entered_ the portals?” I asked, shock evident in my expression.

“Yes. We found ourselves in a strange world, an in-between world. It was there that I found… Well, we found Anabel.”

I glanced to the purple-haired woman, who seemed to have taken a heavy interest in her shoes. I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out.

“She was only 12 or so,” he explained, refusing to acknowledge my shock, “and was completely unconscious, with cuts and bruises all over her. We dragged her back through the portal with us and brought her to a hospital. Then, the three of us quickly discovered that… well, that we could talk to pokemon.”

“Wait,” I held my hand up, finally finding my words. “So you’re telling me that you two are Fallers?”

“...Yep.” Anabel finally spoke. I leaned against a nearby tree, putting my hand to my head.

After a moment, I opened my eyes. “So is that what your cryptic comment about seven was?” I caught Nanu glaring at her out of the corner of my eyes.

“Yeah,” she replied, scratching her head, “by my count, there are seven Fallers currently active in the world.”

Me, Dad, Gladion, Anabel, Nanu… Who were the last two?

“What was this woman’s name? My dad’s friend?” I asked, trying to push my brain past this influx of new information.

“Clementine. She disappeared a little bit after that. I know she’s not dead, though.” Anabel commented, glancing at the sky. “I’d feel it.”

Well that was helpful.

“Anyway,” Nanu interjected, trying to bring the conversation back on track, “Cheren and Colress know that we’re Fallers, but they don’t know about Anabel’s… origins, nor what happened all those years ago. So keep quiet, got it?”

We returned back to the kitchen area. My head was still spinning. Six other Fallers… who were they? What did it all mean?

“Ah, they return!” Colress waved to us, big grin on his face. “Just in time to see a familiar face.” He motioned to the counter, where a small bird with brilliant red plumage was waiting.

“About damn time you woke up!” Gabrielle exclaimed, fluttering towards me. “I’ve been waiting for days!”

“It’s only been a few hours,” Anabel laughed in response, much to my surprise. This would take some getting used to.

“Felt like days,” the bird muttered, before turning to me. “Glad one of your pokespeaker friends was here to let me in, or I would have been trapped trying to find you help, Kaia.”

“‘Pokespeaker’?” Nanu asked, and I shrugged.

“Thank you for your help, Gabrielle.” I crouched so I was face-to-face with her. “I really appreciate it.”

She glanced away from me, scratching her head with her wing. “Don’t mention it. I’m glad you’re okay.” She paused for a moment. “Do you know where Soren is?”

“No, why?”

“Nevermind. I’ll go find him.”

With that, she was off, flying towards the grove of trees. I turned back around, starting at the sight of Colress creepily close to me. His eyes were wide with wonder.

“Wow!” He stood up tall, glancing after the bird. “That was very impressive! It’s so rare to see not one, not two, but three people communicate with a pokemon, all at once! Please, show it to me again!” He gripped my hand excitedly.

Cheren rolled his eyes. “Please excuse my husband. He has an issue with _personal space_.” The last two words were more directed at the blond scientist than myself, and they seemed to get through to him, as he dropped my hand and cleared his throat.

“Well, perhaps I should get started on dinner then?” He scratched his neck. “Feel free to roam about the habitat, Kaia. Your teammates are all out there somewhere.”

“I was going to ask about that.” I responded, offering a small smile. “Thanks, I’ll go take a look.”

* * *

The first duo I found was Lani and Luso. They were both recovering from the fight themselves, so I found them resting near a lone tree on a small, artificial hill.

“--what you did with the Scald move!” Luso was saying as I approached, “Really took care of those little cretins quick and efficiently.”

“Thanks!” Lani laughed, settling into her position. “I really liked your use of Counter to-- Oh,” she looked up as she heard my approach, “Hi Kaia! Glad to see you’re awake!”

“Thanks Lani,” I murmured, taking a seat. “What are you two up to?”

“We’re discussing our battle strategies,” Luso explained, turning towards me. “What worked, what didn’t.”

“Right. About that…” I sighed, looking upwards at the steadily-rising moon. “I just wanted to thank the two of you. For being so brave and for helping me.”

“You were brave too, Kaia!” Lani exclaimed, and I blinked down at her. “You stood by us, and rescued Kiawe, even though it could have jeopardized your mission.”

“She’s actually got a point.” Luso interjected, which caused my jaw to physically drop. “You sacrificed something personal for the good of the team the moment you took off that blindfold, and you knew to retreat when the cards were against us. That was some quality leading.”

“Thanks… you guys.”

* * *

I accidentally came across Soren.

By ‘accidentally came across’, I mean, ‘literally tripped over him and fell flat on my face’.

I sat up, rubbing the dirt away, and glanced back at the small brown ball curled neatly near a tree root. He looked up at me, expression turning from shocked to apologetic.

“Oh! I’m sorry Kaia!” he whisper-yelled, excitable as ever. “Me and Gabby are playing hide and seek, and she’s been searching for me for an hour!”

I blinked, before a smile crossed my face. “Wow, that’s impressive! How have you stayed hidden?”

“Well, I found a tree that looked kinda like me, and made myself look like a part of the tree!” he yapped, before glancing around to make sure he hadn’t just blown his position. “Pretty smart, huh?”

“That is pretty smart!” I exclaimed, playing into his excitement, “soon, you’ll be the Hide and Seek champion!”

His mouth dropped. “There’s a champion?”

“There sure is.”

“Who is it?”

I paused dramatically, before glancing away from him. “It is I, Soren! The Champion Hider!”

He gasped, eyes wide. “Wow! How long have you hidden for?”

“My record…” I tried to think of a good goal. “Was an hour and a half.”

“Wow! That’s a long time!”

I smiled. “Well, maybe you can beat me! Go! Hide!” I stood up, watching him curl up in a ball again. Grinning like an idiot, I walked away.

Soon, I was accosted by Gabrielle, who demanded I tell her where he was hiding. Of course, my answer was, “I haven’t seen him.”

* * *

After finding the other four, I decided to try and check in on Keyki and Iro. According to Anabel, the two of them had run into the grove pretty shortly after they had been let out. I pushed past a particularly dense bush and--

Oh.

Oh no.

I came face to face with the two of them, curled up with each other. Iro was lying down, and Keyki was resting against him, eyes closed. From this distance, it was hard to see, but it almost looked like--

“Iro? Keyki?”

They both jumped immediately, moving away from each other. Keyki was standing tall, a proud Lilligant, but the expression on her face was anything but confident. She looked like she wanted to go die, which I could emphathize with.

“Oh, uh, Kaia-- hi-- um… what’s up?” Keyki stammered, her long leaf-like arms curling around her body.

“Keyki? When did you evolve?” I asked, shuffling awkwardly.

“Oh. We found a stone a while ago. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all!” I laughed, scratching my head. Stepping backwards into the brush, I tripped over a tree root, stumbling onto my backside. “I’m fine! D-don’t worry, I’ll be fine! Don’t mind me, just-- you know, resume normal traffic flow.”

“Kaia…” Iro’s voice was the pokemon-equivalent of a groan.

“I’m gone!”

And I was.

* * *

Cheren made a lovely salad for dinner, which Colress didn’t eat with us. When I had asked him about it, the doctor/ex-gym leader simply shook his head and told me, “he’s getting the presentation ready.”

“Yaaaay, more cryptic nonsense.” I had muttered under my breath, and judging by Anabel’s disapproving glare, she didn’t… well, approve.

Soon, the four of us headed towards the stairwell, heading down to the lab beneath the manor. I wasn’t surprised that Colress had a fully functioning lab under his home-- this was the man who had a freaking vivarium for a living room.

“Ah, welcome!” Colress grinned at us as we entered the pristine white laboratory.

He was standing over a large, octagonal table that I recognized as a Holocaster Supreme, designed to display large holograms in a presentation format. Holograms of different species of pokemon wandered around the floor, their vital stats displayed above their head: I saw Lillipup, Stufful, even an Eevee.

“Please, everyone take a seat, I have something important to show you.” He motioned to the stools in front of the table, and each of us took a section, occupying one half of the octagon. “Kaia, while you were asleep, I was discussing something with Kiawe, and he seemed to think that the pokemon at the trial site went crazy for whatever reason.”

“That’s right,” I confirmed, “it happened at Brooklet Hill as well.”

“Well, after that, I got the idea to do several quick tests on your blood, and what I found was--”

“Wait,” I coughed, holding my hand up. “How would that give you that idea?”

“Because I’ve seen something like this before.” He waved me off. “Either way, what I found was staggering.” He pulled up an image of a human body, vaguely female, on the Holocaster. There appeared to be some sort of chart documenting blood flow, but surrounding the brain, the red imagery turned purple, obscuring the view. “I found a strange toxin within your bloodstream.”

“A toxin?” Anabel spoke up for me.

“A neurotoxin, to be specific. It targets the frontal lobe specifically.”

“What does that mean, though?” Nanu asked, starting at the purple blood over the human’s head.

Cheren piped in with, “Frontal Lobe. It would affect decision making and personality traits primarily, also emotions and certain behaviors.”

“Yes,” Colress murmured, clearing his throat. “But that got me thinking. Could there be a relation between this toxin and the increased agitation of the pokemon? So I did an experiment, which I shall reenact for you know.”

He picked up one of the hologram Lillipups and placed it on the Holocaster, and typed something into the console nearby. Soon, a hologram syringe appeared nearby, and using only hand gestures, Colress picked it up and stuck it into the hologram.

The Lillipup’s demeanor changed instantly. It bared its’ teeth, lowered itself and began barking loudly. Eventually, it took a lunge at Anabel, passing right through her. Colress typed something into the console, and the Lillipup disappeared.

“Now, I did more digging after this, and I believe I have some grasp on how the toxin works. Here.” Using his hands, Colress created a large cluster of balls in the center of the table. “Picture this as the average person’s brain. Each ball represents a certain ‘trait’ of theirs. Everything to the right are the ‘good’ traits, everything to the left are the ‘bad’ traits. The closer to the center, the more subtle the effect. The farther away, vice versa.” After confirming we all understood, he continued. “Now, under the effect of the toxin, this is how brain looks.”

He typed in a command, and the group of balls began to move. The balls on the left began rolling closer and closer to the edge, and the balls on the right began moving closer and closer to the center.

“So…” Anabel looked over the chart. “The toxin increases the obvious and severity of what it deems to be ‘bad’ traits and subdues the ‘good’ traits of an individual? Seems like a very complex toxin.”

Colress nodded. “It is, definitely. This is still just a theory based on several lab tests, as it is impossible to be certain without conclusive proof. But I believe it is the most likely explanation.”

“So…” I murmured, drawing everyone’s attention. “If someone had a relatively minor fault, it would be made glaring and obvious?”

Colress nodded again. “While also increasing a subject’s violent tendencies by a certain degree, if my observations are correct. Which would explain the outbreak of violent pokemon--”

“And this effects humans, too?”

He blinked, his expression softening. “...Presumably.” I must have looked crestfallen, because he instantly jumped to console me. “But don’t worry! I’m fairly certain, with all the bleeding, it has run its course.”

That didn’t exactly make me feel better.

“But what caused this?” Anabel asked, ignoring my discontent. “How would Kaia be affected by it? Or the pokemon, for that matter.”

“For Kaia, I believe it was passed on through a bite she recieved a few days ago.” He replied, and I blinked, running my head through the possibilities. “Carvanha, potentially?”

Oh.

Holy shit.

“Wait!” I stood up, glancing towards him. “Is there anyway to project one of my memories onto the screen?” I had heard that the higher-end models had developed a way to do such a thing, though the technology was still quite buggy.

He looked at me for a moment, before nodding. He showed me how to do it briefly, and soon enough, a memory of the strange, jellicent-like creature I had seen at the trial site was displayed for all to see.

“Have any of you ever seen one of these?” I asked.

Anabel was pale, paler than usual.

“Never.” Colress’ eyes were wide behind his glasses. “And you say these attacks happened primarily at trial sites?” I nodded in confirmation. Removing the display from the Holocaster, replacing it with a map of the Alola region. In several places, large red Xs were crossed. Verdant Cavern, Heahea City, Brooklet Hill, Wela Volcano--

“They’re all trial sites! Well, and Heahea City,” I exclaimed. “What does it mean, though?”

“These are known locations of rifts, Kaia.” Anabel, surprisingly, was the one to tell me this. “Rifts are areas that are dimensionally unstable, with a surplus of Ultra Energy. They’re prone to opening Ultra Wormholes, especially with the help of Fallers or Ultra Beasts.”

“And these are all just coincidentally in the locations of trial sites?”

“Actually, no!” Cheren stuck his head in again. “The ancient people of Alola initially created the trials after noticing a strange change in certain pokemon near these rift sites, worshipping them as demi-deities under the Tapus. We have learned, in these modern days, that Totem pokemon are merely pokemon exposed to a surplus of Ultra Energy. There is some weirdness still, such as why only one pokemon every generation reacts like this, but the science is--”

“Either way, the point is…” Colress cut off his husband. “This creature must be opening a rift, spreading its toxin, and leaving again.”

“But why coincidentally whenever Kaia is around?” Nanu spoke up after remaining silent throughout most of the discussion. “This thing just ‘happens’ to show up whenever she is doing a trial?”

Everyone was stunned into silence.

“Let’s find out,” I murmured, and slowly, everyone turned their heads to me. “I still have to do my Lush Jungle trial, right? And I’m losing time.” I took a deep breath.

“So why don’t we head out there and see if we can catch this thing in the act?”


	23. twenty-two: the snare of vines

_they say before you start a war  
_ _you better know what you're fighting for_

 

I couldn’t breathe. Not without significant effort. The noxious fog rolled in and out of my lungs, threatening to burn me from the inside. I coughed, trying to get it out of my lungs-- blood splattered onto my hand.

Even I wasn’t immune to the effects of this world.

I stepped outside, staring up at the dull, faded moon as the door swung closed behind me.

A dead world.

"Kaia?"

Her voice was soft. It had been so long since I had heard it.

“...Varia?” I spoke to the bitter darkness. A warm glow answered back.

"You’re alright, Kaia. Just hang on, I’ll get you out of here."

* * *

“Kaia!” Her voice punctured my dreams, shaking me from the veil of sleep. “Wake up!”

I opened my eyes to sunlight slipping in through the blinds. Purple walls, antique paintings lining them.

“Kaia.” Gabrielle was resting on my side table, dark eyes watching me. “I’ve been with you for five days now, and you’ve had nightmares every evening.” She rubbed her beak on her wing. “It’s annoying but also slightly worrying. What’s going on?”

“I…” I stared out the window. Breathed in. Breathed out. “I’m not sure yet, Gabrielle.”

She gave me a look over, before nodding. “Alright then. Just tell me when you’ve figured out. I want to know what I’m getting into.” She looked over her shoulder towards the door. “In other news, Hau arrived an hour or so ago.”

“Ugh,” I growled as I pulled myself out of the bed. “Great, that’s just great.”

“...Aren’t you supposed to be friends?”

“Look at this text,” I muttered, revealing my phone to her. “‘Will do’. Will do? What does that mean? Is he angry with me or not?”

She blinked at me. “You realize I’m a pokemon, right? I just learned what the word ‘text’ meant two days ago.”

“I’m just…” I threw again myself onto the bed again, cringing at the sweat that had gathered from a night of tossing and turning. “Who responds to a text telling them that their life is in danger with ‘Will do’?”

“Someone who is mad at you.”

I glared at her.

“What?” She glanced away, preening her feathers. “I’m just being honest! It sounds like he’s still upset. Rightfully so, honestly.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be my pokemon? Stick with me, through thick and thin and all that?” I muttered, pulling off my nightshirt.

“Well, for one, I’m not technically your pokemon,” She replied, before chuckling at the groan that left me. “And two, Lani and Soren have the ‘peppy sidekick who keeps you motivated through thick and thin’ role already filled, so I feel my talents would be best used for keeping you grounded in, you know, _reality_.”

“Yeah, yeah.” I threw my shirt on, smoothing out my hair afterwards. It still felt a little weird, having it cut so short. But a good weird.

“Kaia?” Soren peaked his head through the doorway, his soft brown fur ruffled. “Anabel wanted me to let you know that Hau is here.”

Holding back a groan, I quickly threw my shoes on. I made my way over to the doorway, making sure to give the little guy a nice scratch behind the ears. He had proven to enjoy that a lot in the past, and he let out a small squeal as I did. Gabrielle hopped her way only my shoulder, and I felt a pang of nostalgia again. While Gabrielle was nice, I missed Ranger. He certainly made things a little easier on me.

“How was your morning, Soren?” Gabrielle asked as the three of us stepped out of the room.

“Pretty good!” He yipped, rubbing against my leg. “Luso and I were doing some training earlier, but we stopped after--” he stopped speaking abruptly, looking down at his feet.

I sighed. “What happened, Soren?”

“I wasn’t suppose to tell you.”

“Soren…”

“It’s not a big deal!” His brown eyes were wide as he stared up at me. “But Luso accidentally, _accidentally_ pushed me down pretty hard and I started bleeding but like I said it’s not a bigdealIpromiseaaaaaand," Soren sucked in some air so he could speak even faster, "heapologizedaftersonoharmdone!”

I could feel my hands clenching up. Breathe in, breathe out.

“I’ll have a talk with him later.” Soren seemed surprised at my reaction, or rather lack thereof, but didn’t speak up.

* * *

The whole gang had gathered around the kitchen table: Colress, Cheren, Anabel, Nanu, and Hau. Plates clattered as they finished off breakfast.

“--and by the time they realized their mistake, fifteen Machamps were already trashing the stage!” Colress finished his story, and judging by the ensuing laughter, it was a funny one. Of course, most of the laughter was from Hau, but still.

“Ah, Kaia!” Colress was the first to notice me, giving me a small wave. “Glad to see you’re up. We need to go over plans for the day.”

I made eye contact with Hau, and he gave me a nod. His trademark smile had disappeared from his face, replaced with a solemn look.

I guess that answered that.

“Indeed,” Anabel replied, standing up from her seat. “It’s vital that this plan go smoothly.”

“So, to make sure I have this correct,” Hau said, looking towards Anabel as I sat down at the table, “You all are gonna try and provoke one of those… things?” He stared me down. “Am I the only one that remembers what happened in Hea’hea _not even a month ago_?”

“Of course not,” I growled, “But we don’t have any other choice.”

“There’s always a choice, Kaia.”

“Regardless,” Colress interjected, “Kaia, Anabel, and I will be going to the Lush Jungle, site of the third Akala trial, where we’ll meet up with Mallow, the trial captain. Kaia will do the trial as planned, but Anabel will accompany her to ensure she stays safe in case of an emergency. I’ll stay behind and gather data on energy readings during the trial, to try and see if we develop a system to detect these attacks before they happen.”

“And Mallow?” Nanu leaned in, giving Colress a strange look. “Has she been informed on the potential dangers that come with this?”  
“She has,” Anabel confirmed, “And while she’s nervous, she wants to help. We’ll communicate with her more on the drive over.”

“Listen,” Hau interjected, “I want to help too. I’ve helped fight these things before.”

“No!” I smacked my hands on the table. “I won’t let you put your life in danger for me, Hau. I’m already annoyed enough that Anabel is doing so.”

“Who said it was for you?” Silence. I didn’t know what to say. Looking away from me, Hau addressed Anabel. “I can help. Besides, if something goes wrong, I won’t be able to complete my Island Challenge. So I may as well be there, ensuring nothing goes wrong.”

Anabel considered it for a moment. “Very well, you can come,” She spoke swiftly, preemptively interrupting Hau, “but if I tell you, _either_ of you to run, you are to obey. Understood?”

“Yes, Anabel,” I replied as Hau agreed as well.

The six of us sat in silence for a few moments, before Colress clapped his hands together. “Very well! The four of us shall leave at noon.”

I glanced towards Hau, who seemed to be refusing my eye-contact with all of his might.

“Sounds good to me,” I muttered, leaning backwards as Petunia placed a plate of eggs in front of me.

* * *

Sure enough, the four of departed shortly afterwards. We took Anabel’s truck, a large, sturdy pickup. Colress and Anabel sat in the front, her at the wheel and him tinkering some piece of equipment in his lap. Hau and I rode in the back. The atmosphere reminded me of car rides with Blue and his family, especially after he and his sister had a huge argument during the movies. By that, I mean things were tense and awkward, especially between Hau and I.

Soren had taken his place on my lap, still tuckered out from training with Luso. He had been so eager to help in the next trial, he had been training non-stop to become a better battler for the past three days. While I still didn’t exactly agree with Luso’s training methods, and I still needed to have a chat with him about “accidentally” injuring Soren, it was rather helpful to have someone help with the training. It was hard enough to train one pokemon, let alone six. I supposed that was why most trainers only trained one to two pokemon.

Gabrielle was on my shoulder, though unlike Soren, she was still awake. She had tentatively agreed to help me in the next trial fight, helpful considering I had no other answers to grass-types. That said, she definitely wasn’t happy about it.

“Yeah, things have been going pretty good. Luso and I have finally been working as a team. I still don’t like the guy all that much, but, whatever.” Lani was out of her pokeball, seated to my right in the seat between Hau and I. She was currently deep in conversation with Tsuo, Hau’s Torracat, who was seated next to her.

“Mhmm, that’s good that you guys improving.” Tsuo licked his paw, flicking his tail left and right. “It was rather necessary.”

She blinked at him. “And what’s that supposed to mean, dude?”

He flicked his tail, dusting her nose. “I’m _saying_ ,” he purred, a sly grin crossing his face, “that in a fight, our team could come out on top.”

“Um...” Lani looked stunned. “I feel like the last few times we’ve gone up against you guys, we won.”

“True, you won,” Tsuo licked his paw again, “But we weren’t at our best back then. We are now.”

“Oh dude, you are so--”

“Guys,” I turned to them, rubbing my temples. “Now is maybe not the time, yeah?”

Lani lowered her head. “Y-yeah Kaia, sorry.”

Tsuo acknowledged me, yellow eyes staring me down. “Yeah, whatever.”

The car ride continued in silence. Eventually, in an attempt to clear the tension, Colress cleared his throat. “So… when did you two start dating?”

“What,” Hau and I said, and looked at each other for the first time on the car ride.

“You know,” Colress continued, despite Anabel’s furious head shaking, “Lovey-dovey.”

I spoke before Hau got the opportunity. “We’re not dating. Besides, Hau already has a girlfriend.”

“Aw, Mew.” Hau flung his hand to his face. “Look Kaia, Lillie and I aren’t dating. I’m sorry if you think that and for whatever reason, it upsets you. But we aren’t.”

“You sure act like you are.” I crossed my arms, turning to stare out the window again.

“Even if we were, why would you care?”

“You know, I’d ask the same question,” Gabrielle, finally tuning into the conversation, whispered in my ear, “Because to me, it sounds like someone’s jealous. Does little Kaia have a crush?”

“Not on anyone you know,” I snapped back, and she seemed stunned at my revelation.

Good.

Breathing out of his nose in an attempt to stay calm, Hau seemed to get the hint that I was done talking to him, and turned to look out his side of the car.

“...Did I say something wrong?” Colress muttered, to which Anabel answered with a nice, old-fashioned hand on the forehead.

“Well,” Anabel muttered as we pulled to a stop, “We’re here.”

I peeked outside the window, taking in the vast expanse of green surrounding us. In any direction I looked, tall trees obscured our vision. Various flora wrapped around trees and roots, creating a very mystical feeling to the local. To the right, I could see a trodden pathway, presumably where the trial began. The sun was beginning to set, giving the area a warm orange glow. It was magical.

As Hau, Anabel, and I hopped out of the truck, Colress opened his computer, typing in a sequence of data. After a moment, he looked up. With a quick adjustment of his glasses, he looked around. “Anabel, do you see Mallow anywhere?”

Anabel shifted beside me. “No, Professor.

“That’s odd, she said she would be waiting for us.”

“Do you want me to give her a call?” Despite asking a question, Anabel was already dragging out her phone. She stepped away from us, leaving Hau and I alone with our pokemon. He still had Tsuo out, whereas I had recalled Lani, leaving only Gabrielle and Soren.

After a tense moment, I broke the silence. “Look, Hau. I’m sorry, okay? I said some rude things to you and Lillie.” He looked towards me. “I recently learned I wasn’t myself during that time, but it still doesn’t excuse what I did to you, and--”

“Kaia.” Hau stopped me, putting his hand to his forehead. “I don’t care about the boyfriend/girlfriend comments, alright? I’m upset because you treat us like dirt.”

“What?” I tried to keep the rising frustration out of my voice.

“Every time I see you, it goes one of two ways. Either you treat me like crap, or you act all nice and sweet. I’ve tried to be your friend time and time again, but Lillie and I--”

“Oh, _Lillie and I_?” I could feel my nails digging into my palms, but I didn’t care. “That’s how it always is. You and Lillie. You guys are always running off alone, even back on Melemele, leaving me behind, off to go make out or someth--”

“Arceus, Kaia!” He flung his hands in the air. “Why do you keep going back to that? Are you jealous? Do you _like_ me or something?”

“No, I don’t care if you and Lillie date, Hau!” I paused for a moment. “Well… I do, but it’s not like I’m in love with you. I-- I just-- I thought we were all supposed to be friends, but if you guys started dating…”

“What? We’d leave you out?” I’d never seen Hau mad before, but he looked like he was on his way. “That can’t be the root of the issue here. You ran off to go do Arceus-knows-what for a week, came back after having all of these cool adventures, we invited you to the bar for your _birthday_ , and after that you started lashing out at us again?” Gabrielle shifted on my shoulder, clearly trying to absorb as much information as possible. “What else were we supposed to do?”

“Hey, so I--” Anabel returned from her phone call, pausing as she realized exactly what she was interrupting. “I’ll just be waiting over by the entrance for you guys.”

The spell was broken. Hau and I both looked at each other, realized neither of us had anything else to say, and moved to follow Anabel. She nodded at each of us as we approached.

“So I couldn’t contact Mallow. Her phone kept sending me straight to voicemail.” She said, expression grave. “I fear this means one of two things.”

“Maybe her phone is just off.” Hau suggested, still breathing heavily from our shouting match.

“Or she ran in there and got herself killed.” I offered, receiving a glare from Hau.

“...Yeah. Those are the two possibilities.” Anabel looked between us, before shaking her head. “Let’s hope it’s neither of those things. She probably just forgot that this was happening today. Either way, we need to push on.”

“Are we allowed to do a trial without a trial captain?” I asked, glancing down towards Soren.

“Not technically, but I’m not gonna risk Mallow’s life just because of some damn tradition.”

“I thought you said she probably just forgot this was happening today?” Hau asked, rubbing his knuckle.

“I lied.” And with that, the purple-haired woman was gone, having disappeared into the jungle. Hau and I were quick to follow.

* * *

And so the seven of us set off. Anabel took point, her and Magi on high alert. Hau followed close behind, Tsuo at his feet. Taking the rear was Soren, Gabby and I.

“Wow, it’s…” Soren murmured, glancing up at the treetops, “A little spooky in here.”

“You said it,” Gabrielle confirmed, claws clenching my shoulder. “I get the distinct sense that we’re all marching towards our deaths.”

“Well, if we are,” Tsuo called from in front of us, “Let’s hope it’s a glorious one, at least.”

“Yeah...” Gabby muttered, “Let’s not.”

“All of you, be silent,” Magi, Anabel’s mismagius, called from up front, her voice magnified by psychic energy, “You’ll alert our enemies to our position.”

“Speaking of which…” Gabby murmured, looking upwards. “I have a really bad feeling about that.”

I followed her gaze, and at first glance, noticed nothing out of the ordinary. A Passimian here, a Bounsweet there. But then I saw them. Their dull grey feathers masked them among the trees: dozens upon dozens of trumbeak, lining the treetops, all watching us as we moved along the beaten path.

“Hau…” I whispered.

“I see them.” He was staring at the treetops as well, fists clenched.

“They don’t seem to be attacking as of now,” Anabel commented from in front, “But we should keep an eye on it.”

Continuing on, we passed by a couple trees that had been thoroughly slashed to bits. I got a tingling feeling of deja vu as visions of the Ultra Beasts who cut down buildings back in Hea’hea. Judging by Hau’s shiver, he noticed as well.

Soon, we reached a clearing, just as the moon began to hang high above us, and all seven of us instinctively crouched into the underbrush, taking in the scene unfolding in front of us.

In the center of the clearing, there was a large, wooden structure, reminiscent of the one in the Verdant Cavern. Back leaning against it, with a large cut on her forehead, was a young woman of 16 or 17. Her long, green hair was damp with a substance I hoped wasn’t blood.

“Mallow…” Anabel muttered, confirming my suspicions.

Hau moved towards her, but stopped as a deep, guttural clicking sound came from around the podium. Stepping out from behind it was a large pink creature. It was nearly human-sized, decorated in what resembled pink, fluorescent clothes, and had two large, scythe-like hands, hanging in front of it. I recognized it as a lurantis, the evolved form of fomantis. Of course, it was much larger than normal, as most lurantis were barely waist-high on an average human.

“mAllOw…” its voice rang out, deep and guttural, just like Salazzle.

“Holy fuck,” Hau breathed beside me, “Did that thing just talk?”

“You heard that?” I asked, my surprise removing the intelligent side of me that told me to keep quiet.

The Lurantis whipped its head around, staring directly into the bushes where the seven of us were hiding. At first, it did nothing. It looked away. I thought we were clear.

And then it screamed.

It was a disgusting, horrifying, freakishly human scream. It was returned by dozens upon dozens of screeches from the treetops, and the swarm of feathers descended upon us.

“Kaia, you and--” Anabel’s order was cut off by the continual screeching of the Trumbeak. She was pointing towards the clearing, so that’s where I ran. Gabrielle fluttered off my shoulder, blasting gusts of wind from her wings as trumbeak swarmed towards us. Hau and Tsuo had made their way towards the lurantis, fire spewing from the torracat’s mouth. Magi and Anabel with blasting away trumbeak with bouts of psychic.

“Soren!” I bent down towards the eevee, who was still huddled at my feet. “Can you work on keeping the trumbeak off us?”

“Y-yeah!” He shouted, fear wiping off his face and turning to determination, “You can rely on me!”

“Gabby, you and I will head up and help Hau and Tsuo with the lurantis!”

“You got it, Kaia!” She exclaimed, beginning to shuffle forward.

I followed her, scanning to see if there were any openings, but Soren was doing a great job covering our rear. What he lacked in raw power, he made up for in intelligence, as he was using his back paws to spray sand in the eyes of the trumbeak, momentarily blinding them.

We approached the lurantis, who was in a fierce battle with Tsuo. The torracat was using a move I was unfamiliar with, one that involved igniting one’s whole self on fire and blasting into an opponent. It looked rather dangerous for the user, but its destructive power was not to be  underestimated, judging by the screams of rage coming out from the creature.

“Kaia!” Gabby shouted, narrowly dodging one of the lurantis’ scythes, “Go help Soren! I’ve got this!”

Returning my attention to Soren, I noted he was doing surprisingly well for a pokemon who had never seen combat. I made a mental note to thank Luso later. And scold him. But also thank him.

“Soren, to your left!” I called, and he noted the trumbeak preparing a blast of rocks to his left. Darting out of the way just in time, he followed up with a tackle, knocking the bird to the ground. It hit the ground, and there was a sickening sound of bones cracking.

_His body was splayed at odd angles, wings folded in on themselves and neck cocked at an ungodly angle._

“Oof,” A gasp of air left Soren’s throat as a trumbeak slammed into him, hitting him with a powerful smack of his claws.

_Lani refused to let go of him, not even when the paramedics came._

Pushing himself up, Soren sprayed more sand, blinding another oncoming wave of Trumbeak.

_Of course, they didn’t pay attention to the dead pokemon. “Too much effort,” they said, too busy to help the pokemon people had come to love._

He was pushed to the ground again as a Trumbeak landed on top of him, pummeling him with its beak.

“ _Sorry for your loss, ma’am,” They said to me._

Soren bit the trumbeak, ripping it off of him. He stood up, panting and looking around for any more incoming foes.

_But they weren’t sorry. Not really, anyway._

“Kaia!” I felt a brush of wind behind me, and turned to see Gabby glaring up at me. “Snap out of it!”

That was where Gabrielle made her mistake. She took her eyes off the enemies to focus on me, the idiot girl who is too broken to even help her pokemon in a fight. One of the trumbeak noted the opening. It swooped past me, beak preparing for a rock blast against the defenseless bird pokemon.

But then it happened.

In a flash, Soren dove towards his friend, black fur glimmering in the moonlight. The rocks pelted his side, leaving a small bruise.

But they were both otherwise unharmed.

“S-Soren,” I muttered, surprised by his transformation.

“We can talk about it later.” His voice was deeper than previously. “You and Gabby need to go help out Hau. I can handle things from here.”

I nodded, pushing myself off the ground. In my stupor, Soren had pushed past me to save Gabby.

“Soren…” Gabby’s voice was hushed, and she looked up at his hulking new form. “Th-thank you. I would be--”

“ _Later_.”

“Right.”

We quickly moved towards Hau and Tsuo, who were becoming increasingly at risk without Gabrielle’s backup. They both looked relieved as we arrived.

“Gabrielle, air slash!” I called, getting back into the groove of things. The oricorio nodded, doing a quick motion with her wings and summoning more wing.

“Tsuo, flare blitz!” Hau called in return, and the torracat dove towards the lurantis, body in flames.

Surprisingly, as though he didn’t want to be outdone, there was another flash of bright light, and Tsuo changed dramatically. His quadrupedal form shifted into a bipedal one, and he nearly tripled in size, becoming slightly larger than the average adult human male. The fur on his chest became dark grey, and a belt of flames appeared around his waist. He had evolved into Incineroar, the final stage of the Litten evolutionary line.

Hau seemed as stunned as I was by the sudden change in appearance.

Now outsizing the lurantis, Tsuo tackled it to the ground. It screamed as the flames burned it, but Tsuo wasn’t done yet. Channeling his fire into his fists, he began pummeling the creature. It let its disgusting, humanlike screech with each strike.

“Gabby, hit it with air slash while its down!” I called, and though she was still partially stunned by witnessing two evolutions in less than a minute, she began striking the downed lurantis with every slash of wing she could muster.

Eventually, the screams stopped, and Tsuo stopped punching. Their patron now gone, the Trumbeak began to disperse. Soren made his way over to me, supporting me as I collasped next to him. Anabel made her way to Hau, ensuring he was alright.

For a moment, all was quiet.

And then an eerie, childlike laugh echoed through the clearing.

And then silence once more.


	24. twenty-three: cassette

_your love was a loss  
_ _and i lay as you lied  
_ _you said you didn't want to  
_ _said you didn't want to be alone_

 

The road, rough and unpaved, shook the truck violently, knocking me out of my headspace. I blinked, for a moment forgetting where I was. What had just happened. And then it all flooded back.

Colress was in the back with Mallow, who was still unconscious. He had cleaned up her head wound, but had explained that she was actually fairly unharmed. Thank Arceus. Still, part of the reason we were driving so fast was to get back to Cheren in time. He would be able to help her more than we could. Soren and Gabrielle were back there with him, keeping her secure.

Hau rode in the middle row, staring out the window at the night sky. Beside him, Lani was conversing with Tsuo. The fire cat had insisted on sitting in the car, even though he was slightly too big for it. The sight of his seatbelt, pressed hard against the fur on his chest, made me nearly crack up everytime I looked at it. He looked so proud and so uncomfortable at the same time.

Of course, Anabel and I were the only two who could actually hear their conversation. The tension in the car was palpable.

“...Can we listen to some music, or something?” Hau spoke up for the first time since we left the jungle.

Anabel nodded. “Kaia, would you mind searching through the bag of CDs in the glove compartment? There should be something good in there.”

I reached into the glove compartment, pulling out a small case filled to the brim with CDs. I quickly flipped through them, rolling my eyes at Anabel’s… questionable taste. She had too many Anna Unova CDs for the interest to be ironic.

Finally, my eyes landed on one, distinct from the rest. Whereas all the others had decorative artwork, this one was a completely blank CD, aside from a thin title, scrawled in marker.

“ANABEL: HERE’S EVERYTHING I KNOW”

I took a sharp breath. This was Anabel’s personal property. I shouldn’t-- I mean…

I waited for a moment until she looked away.

I shoved it into the receptacle.

I waited for her to look, to eject the disc.

She didn’t, and a voice came on the radio.

* * *

???: “Audio Log E: Part I. This is Julia Burnet. It is currently 8:51pm on August 21st, 2061.”

* * *

I blinked. This was… from Mum?

Anabel looked surprised as the disc began to play, but eventually shrugged and began to watch the road again. I heard Hau shift behind me, clearly listening in to the recording as well.

[There is a shuffle in the background as papers are moved around. JULIA is breathing heavily into the microphone. She sounds tired. Her voice is raspy as she continues.]

* * *

JULIA: “Dimensional travel… is real.”  
JULIA: “...”  
JULIA: “My b- my friends, William Stirling, Clementine Moreau, and Nanu Dorean just disappeared into a strange portal.”  
JULIA: “...They have yet to emerge.”

[There is a brief pause. A choked sob echoes away from the microphone, echoing loudly in the surroundings.]

* * *

“Moreau?” I turned to Anabel. “Isn’t that the last name of Colress’ maid?”

She nodded. “They were distantly related, I think. Second cousins, I want to say?”

JULIA: “I suppose I should start from the beginning.

* * *

[She clears her throat.]

JULIA: “If you have been listening to these recordings, you’ll know that I have begun travelling around the Alolan region on an independent study researching trial pokemon and why they are as they are.  
JULIA: “I was accompanying my friend, William Stirling, as he did his trials. We were also accompanied by Clementine Moreau, his friend from the Kalos region, and Nanu Dorean, an Ula’ula local on his own Island Challenge.”  
JULIA: “During his trial fight against Totem Persian in Verdant Cavern, there was a rock slide. I was standing away from the action, so I was unharmed, but it knocked the other three into a strange cavern underneath the clearing. I raced after them.”

[She takes a deep breath.]

JULIA: “I caught up in time to see them all disappear into the portal, and have it vanish in front of me.”  
JULIA: “...I don’t know why.”

[There is another pause, as well as the sound of a throat clearing. When she returns to the mic, she sounds calmer.]

JULIA: “The portal itself was small, barely the size of a grown man.”  
JULIA: “It appeared almost like… a tear?”  
JULIA: “I honestly didn’t get a good look at it.”  
JULIA: “...”  
JULIA: “I’ll update when I have more information.”

* * *

None of us spoke for a few moments.

Hau was the first to do so. “So, Kaia’s mom… discovered Ultra Space?”

Anabel shrugged. “Who knows? She was definitely the first to record its existence, not that she was allowed to share it.”

“What do you mean?” I felt prickles on my skin. There was something that set me on edge about her tone.

“You’ll see.” Anabel hit next on the player, and it moved to the next track.

* * *

JULIA: “Audio Log E: Part II. This is Julia Burnet. It is currently 10:08pm on August 26th, 2061.”

[The sound of wingulls is heard. A boat horn blares, and the sound of waves can be heard softly in the distance.]

JULIA: “If you listened to Part I, you would know that I recently discovered the existence of interdimensional travel. I apologize for the poor quality of that recording, I was… emotional, at the time.”  
JULIA: “I have been advised not to share my findings. But for my own sanity, I feel the need to document this phenomenon.  
JULIA: “So it has been 5 days since my friends disappeared into the portal, and 4 days since they emerged.”

[The microphone picks up sounds of pages flipping.]

JULIA: “But they were not alone.”  
JULIA: “Three entered, but four emerged.”

[She pauses for dramatic effect.]

JULIA: “When they returned, Mr. Dorean was carrying a small girl of eleven or twelve years of age. She was unconscious at the time.”  
JULIA: “When she recovered, we discovered that she had no recollection of her life prior to this. We have taken to calling her ‘Anabel’.”  
JULIA: “After emerging, they were all extremely exhausted. Despite my overwhelming curiosity, my relief at their safety was grander, and we quickly fled back to Hau’oli City.”

[There is a large pause, before a large boom as the recorder hits the ground. Things are quiet, though for a brief moment, it is possible to hear JULIA screaming, “let go of my hair, you pesky sky rats!” After a while, her breath returns.]

JULIA: “My apologies for that brief disruption.”  
JULIA: “Either way, I have interviewed each of them and recorded it in the following tracks.”  
JULIA: “Please listen closely.”

* * *

The disc whirled to a halt once more.

“You have amnesia?” I blurted the words out before I could think. “Had?”

“Have.”

“Oh.” I looked down at my hands. “That must be… kinda weird.”

We had to wait a good minute for Anabel to stop laughing.

“‘Weird’ doesn’t even begin to describe it, Kaia.”

* * *

JULIA: “Please state your name and age for the record.”  
???: “My name is Clem Moreau, I’m nineteen years old.”

[The voice, Clementine, has a slight hint of a kalosian accent. She is quiet when she speaks, and her voice has a small quiver.]

JULIA: “So, you are friends with William Stirling?”  
CLEM: “Yes. We have been friends for many years now.”  
JULIA: “And you are in Alola because…?”  
CLEM: “Will got the opportunity to receive a starter pokemon from Kahuna Hala, and wanted to travel the Alola region.”  
JULIA: “Ok, but why are you here?”

[There is a brief pause.]

JULIA: “So… Can you describe the place you found yourself in when you entered the portal?”  
CLEM: “Umm… yes. Well. For the first few moments, it was… dark.”  
JULIA: “Dark?”  
CLEM: “Yes. Not in the sense that the was a lack of light. In the sense that… um… that there was nothing to see beyond myself.  
JULIA: “How do you mean?”

[There is a nervous chuckle from Clementine.]

CLEM: “Like… I dunno, like I was the only thing in the entire universe, and anywhere I looked was just… darkness. And then we stopped.”  
JULIA: “Stopped?”  
CLEM: “The place we arrived in… it wasn’t normal. It was a, um, a cavernous area, with several tunnels spread out in any direction. The air was heavy, and there was a strange… tangibility to it. I felt like I could reach out and grab it. It was slightly murky, like a strange fog had spread through the cavern.  
JULIA: “Was it hard to breathe?”  
CLEM: “At first, yes, absolutely. I nearly, [i]je ne sais pas le mot, se suffoqué[/i]?”  
JULIA: “Suffocated?”  
CLEM: “Yes! Suffocated. But it got better.”  
JULIA: “This cavern, was it bare of plant life?”  
CLEM: “Not at all! There was, um, some glowing moss scattered across all the walls.”  
JULIA: “Glowing moss?”  
CLEM: “I honestly have no other way of describing it. There was like a, uh, a pulse. That ran through the most. Light travelled through it, and it covered nearly every wall and ceiling.  
JULIA: “That’s very strange. What happened after that?”  
CLEM: “Well, _Monsieur_ Dorean swore that he heard something from down the hall. So he took off in the direction, and so Willy and I followed.”

[JULIA seems to be barely holding back laughter.]

CLEM: “Did I say something funny?”  
JULIA: “No, sorry, it’s-- nevermind. So you went down the hall?”  
CLEM: “Yes.”  
JULIA: “And that’s when you guys saw her.”  
CLEM: “Yes.”

* * *

“You said that you guys have no idea what happened to her?” I spoke immediately as the tape came to a close.

Anabel shrugged. “I have some theories, but no concrete proof.”

“Any chance of you sharing those theories?”

She laughed again. “Not a chance in hell.”

“I figured.”

* * *

JULIA: “Please state your name and age for the record.”  
???: “Nanu Dorean, twenty-two.”

[His voice is deep and rough. There is a certain raggedness to his voice that betrays his exhaustion.]

JULIA: “You are taking the Summer Island Challenge for 2061, correct?”  
NANU: “Yes, that is correct.”  
JULIA: “Isn’t twenty-two a little old to be taking the island challenge? Most who go through it are in their mid to late teens.”  
NANU: “Mhmm.”  
JULIA: “...Alright then, so why are you travelling with William and Clementine? You are an Ula’Ula native, are you not? Why not begin your journey there?”  
NANU: “Will and I have been pen pals for a couple of years now. When he told me he was going to do the island challenge, I decided to get off my ass and finally get it done as well. But there was little point in doing it without him.”  
JULIA: “That seems like a bit of an odd choice. The challenge isn’t really something people just ‘decide’ to do for no reason. Usually it’s only those who wish to become a professional trainer who do it. Or who have something to prove.  
NANU: “I’m not gonna delve into my psyche for you, sweetheart.”

[There is another long pause, with JULIA beginning several sentences before stopping partway through.]

JULIA: “...I honestly have no idea how to talk to you.”  
NANU: “Heh heh, no one does.”  
JULIA: “...”  
JULIA: “...So, you were the one to discover Anabel?”  
NANU: “Yes.”  
JULIA: “What condition was she in when you found her?”  
NANU: “She had several cuts along her arms and legs, and her throat was red.  
JULIA: “As in…?”  
NANU: “Yeah. Like she had been choked.”  
JULIA: “...”  
NANU: “She was unconscious when we found her, so I carried her for the rest of our trip.”  
JULIA: “Speaking of which, how did you guys manage to escape?”  
NANU: “We continued moving down the tunnel we had initially entered. Eventually, we entered an open area, where we saw…”

[NANU goes quiet for a moment.]

JULIA: “Nanu, are you--”  
NANU: “I’m fine.”  
JULIA: “We can stop if you need--”  
NANU: “Seriously, I’m fine. Basically, we saw several… corpses. And there was… a monster. Eating them.”  
JULIA: “A monster? Like a pokemon?”  
NANU: “I-- I don’t know. I’ve never seen anything like it.”  
JULIA: “Do you know what it looked like?”  
NANU: “It was… it was several times larger than a man. Nearly 20 feet, I’d say. Entirely black, aside from its stomach. Its stomach… was a gigantic mouth.”  
JULIA: “...And you guys escaped.”  
NANU: “Yeah. One of its arms -- also a mouth -- touched a portion of the wall, and a… a hole opened.”  
JULIA: “The portal.”  
NANU: “Yeah. And it disappeared through, and the hole disappeared after it did.”

[JULIA releases a breath of air, sighing.]

JULIA: “So then you guys--”  
NANU: “I caught a glimpse of what was beyond that portal, you know.”  
JULIA: “What?”  
NANU: “The world… the one the creature entered. The one I saw. It was dead.”

* * *

There was a long bout of silence as the tape rolled to a close. I let out a breath, unaware I was even holding it. I attempted to make eye-contact with Anabel, to understand what she was thinking at this moment. She kept her eyes glued to the road, refusing to acknowledge me.

“Does… does something like that really exist?” To my surprise, it was Lani who spoke first.

Anabel nodded. “Unfortunately, yes.”

“What is that one’s name?” I asked, remembering EXPANSION back at the Dimensional Lab.

“They call it GLUTTON. All caps.”

Fitting.

* * *

JULIA: “Please state your name and age for the record.”  
???: “Hi, I’m Harry Sax, and I’m sixty--”  
JULIA: “Ugh, c’mon Will! It’s impossible for you to be this immature. We’re gonna restart, hang on.

[WILL is barely holding in laughter. The tape goes silent for a moment.]

JULIA: “ _Please_ state your name and age for the record.]  
WILL: “I’m William Stirling, twenty-one.”  
JULIA: “And you’re originally from Kanto?”  
WILL: “Yep, born and raised.”  
JULIA: “What made you decide to participate in the Island Challenge in Alola, rather than competing in the Kanto League?”  
WILL: “My mom is good friends with Kahuna Hala, and he offered to give me a pokemon. Starters are super rare, so I figured it would be a good opportunity. It’s also a bonus that all the women here are gorgeous.”  
JULIA: “I-- I don’t see how that’s relevant.”  
WILL: “What, can I not comment on how gorgeous my girlf--”  
JULIA: “ _Anyway_ , you were the one who figured out how to escape, correct?”  
WILL: “I-- Yes, I did. Well, by ‘figured out’ I mean, ‘copied the big bastard’.  
JULIA: “So how did that happen?”  
WILL: “Well, that… thing, used a portion of the wall to escape. So I just… laid my hand on the wall, and a portal, it… you know, opened.”  
JULIA: “And you all went through.”  
WILL: “Yeah. We emerged near the Ruins of Conflict. Afterwards, Clem and I went to find you, while Nanu took the girl to the hospital.”  
JULIA: “Anabel.”  
WILL: “Right, Anabel.”

[There is a moment of silence.]

JULIA: “Oh! You said you grabbed a piece of one of the rocks in this place?”  
WILL: “Oh, right! I figured you would want it. Hang on, let me see if I have it.”

[There is another brief period of silence, with only the faint sound of someone rummaging through a bag. After a few moments, a squawk echoes from the other side of the room.]

WILL: “What? No, I didn’t forget it at home.”

[Silence.]

JULIA: “...Will, did you just…”  
WILL: “Hm? Sorry, I’m looking for it, you don’t need to rush me.”  
JULIA: “I didn’t rush you. Your Rowlet did.”

* * *

“They caught my dad speaking to his pokemon for the first time on tape?”

Anabel nodded. “It was a stroke of luck. Your mom was ecstatic, and begged him to keep doing it.” It brought a brief smile to my face. To think of them like that. Happy. “Your dad had never done it before, and the two of them spent the entire night figuring it out.”

“I never knew…” Hau murmured, staring intently at me. “That my grandpa knew your grandma.”

“Me neither, actually.” I sank back into my seat, staring out the window. “I wonder…”

“What?”

“If they’re still friends.”

Hau sighed. “Me too.”


	25. twenty-four: disrespect and die

_everybody's gonna run away, today  
_ _it's not cause what you do or what you say  
_ _it's just time to get leaving now_

 

“Well, here we are.” The truck slowly rolled to a stop. “Konikoni City.”

Konikoni was a quiet coastal town, at least in the day. With Kanjoh-inspired architecture, specifically the Ecruteak region, it was basically a little piece of home. There was a tall lighthouse in the distance, casting a shadow upon a portion of the houses. We were currently parked on the hill looking down at it. In the opposite direction of this hill was Memorial Hill, a cemetery dedicated to pokemon and humans, buried side by side. Past that, the Ruins of Life.

There’s a joke here, but I feel it would be too disrespectful to say it.

“Thank you for driving me, Anabel!” Mallow bounced beside me, brilliant smile on display. “It would have been a long walk.”

"Of course.” The purple-haired woman turned to me, eyebrow raised.

“Oh. Thanks, I guess.” I glanced down at Gabrielle, who was staring up at me, eyes unblinking. “Hey, Gabby? It’s a little creepy when you do that.”

“Yeah, how do you think I feel? You humans, always discussing your feelings and junk.” She broke eye contact with me, staring out the window. “In the wild, we don’t have any of that.”

“Sounds pretty sad.”

Gabrielle scoffed at the assertion.

The three of us climbed out of the car, with Gabrielle fluttering onto my shoulder. We quickly moved towards the path leading down to the city, Mallow in between Anabel and I.

“Sorry I can’t drop you guys off any closer, there’s no where to park within the city.” Anabel walked stiff as a board, maintaining a sense of professionalism even in a casual situation. “You alright, Mallow?”

“Yup, I’m--” She stumbled slightly, before catching herself. “--fine!” She laughed.

“Take it easy. You’re on leave for a reason, you know,” I muttered, watching to make sure she was truly alright.

“Oh, Kahuna Olivia is just being protective,” She laughed it off. “I’m fine.”

“No, she’s right.” Anabel’s face was stern, as always. “You have a serious concussion. Take it easy.”

“Sorry, guys. I’ll be careful.” She slowed down, watching her steps carefully. Still, the smile never disappeared from her face.

“Wow, she’s so peppy,” Gabrielle commented, her mutterings catching my ear. “I had assumed that every female in your culture was an emotionally-stunted weirdo.” She began to cluck, which I decided to interpret as vicious mockery.

I rolled my eyes. “Seriously? It’s not even that funny. You keep going back to that well.”

“Eh. You try coming up with catchy one-liners all the time.”

"That’s fair.”

Soon, the four of us arrived at the bottom of the hill, and the sounds of various instruments began to play in my ears. I heard brief incorporations of a timpani, and possibly a xylophone. People walked along the long centre street, checking out various merchants who had set up shop along the path. Various food smells, reminiscent of home, instantly put me at ease.

“Miss Olivia has a shop further into town,” Mallow murmured, pointing down the main road. The road split off into several side streets, one of which Mallow now pointed to. “My family restaurant is further down that way.”

“I’ll take Mallow home, Kaia.” Anabel had a smile on her face. A rare occurrence for her.

I nodded. “Alrighty then, I’ll go figure out where Kahuna Olivia is at.”

As soon as Anabel and Mallow left, with Mallow still stumbling slightly and Anabel helping her out, I released Soren from his pokeball.

“Wow, it’s so busy here!” He exclaimed, tail wagging. “Kaia, can we go exploring?”

“Oh, sure I—“

“Thanks!” He yelped, before darting off. Gabrielle hopped off my shoulder and fluttered after him, giving me a slight cluck as she left.

“Wait, I… ugh, you guys are gone.” Now alone, I suddenly felt the overbearing feeling of the city crushing me. Grabbing any pokeball from my belt, I was surprised when it revealed Keyki. Judging by her expression, she was surprised as well.

“Oh! Kaia, hello!” She waved, looking about. “Where are we at? What are we doing?”

Sighing, I began walking in the direction of the shop. “Come on, I’ll explain on the way.

* * *

“I’m sorry, Miss Olivia went out.”

“Out?”

“Out.”

I rolled my eyes. “Great, because that’s what I wanted to hear. I finally finish my trials, and now the Kahuna is in the wind.”

The clerk’s eyes bulged. “You’re doing your trials? Man, you’re super—“

“Late, yeah yeah.” I sighed.

Olivia’s shop was… intriguing, to say the least. I wasn’t sure what kind of business she got, considering all they sold was rocks, essentially, but she had to make some form of profit off it, or it would have been shut down a long time ago. Kahuna or not. There was a faint clanging sound echoing throughout the shop, like a brick being repeatedly smacked onto steel in time.

“Kaia, it’ll be fine.” Keyki rested one of her leaves on my arm, and I looked down to see her grinning at me. “We can just get a room or something. They have a pokemon centre here, right?”

I thought about it for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” I turned back to the clerk. “We’re leaving.”

I stepped out of the door, bell ringing. Holding the door open for the lilligant, my eyes were briefly blinded by the orange sunlight hitting my eyes, indicating sunset.

“Arceus, how long were we in that shop?” I grumbled, as the door swung shut behind us.

“Who knows. Anyway Kaia, what's the plan?"

I frowned, looking around the long strip through the centre of town. "Hm... Good question. I guess we should find Gabrielle and Soren. They kinda skedaddled, huh?" I tried to  
remember where Anabel and Mallow and run off to.

"Indeed," Keyki replied, voice betraying her skepticism.

I glanced down at her. "Is there a problem?"

She looked up at me, shaken from her thoughts. "N-no! Of course not. I just... I worry that she is a poor influence on him. Don't you agree?"

I shrugged, before moving in a random direction. Keyki shuffled behind me, folding her hands together. "I don't really see it. I mean... She's a little crabby, sure, but she doesn't strike me as a bad person-- er, pokemon."

Keyki nodded, before tilting left and right. "I see your point... But... Well, I mean, umbreon have a certain... negative stigma surrounding them, you know. At least, in my tribe."

"Do they?" I supposed it wasn't too farfetched. No one was exactly sure what caused umbreon to evolve, only that it was somehow related to the moon. "We don't exactly have those sorts of traditions in human culture. What do they say?"

"Well..." A frown appeared on the lilligant's face. "It's... They say that an umbreon signifies bad luck, especially for those present during its evolution, and especially for the umbreon itself."

"Really!" I felt a portion of my mother begin to surface. "That's... actually pretty interesting!"

"I suppose. But it makes me worried for Soren. He's a good kid and... I would hate to see something bad happen to him."

"What does that have to do with Gabrielle?" I bit my lip.

"Well, she's... y'know. Not exactly the nicest--"

"Wait." I stopped, taking a moment to reorient myself. We had wandered to the opposite end of town, judging by the towering lighthouse and the sudden sea breeze. Any semblance of crowd had disappeared, leaving the two of us alone. "Why does this feel like a scene from a movie I'm too young to remember?"

"Yo yo yo," a voice pierced the silence, making me physically cringe, "if it ain't the dreaded Kalypso!"

Turning my head, I noted the group of Team Skull groupies walking their way towards me. There was probably six or seven of them total, wearing matching skull jerseys and bandanas. Still, I recognized one was Jacket, one of the senior members in Gladion's group. He was waving at me, so he definitely recognized me too. Maine trailed behind him, her green hair cut similar to my own.

Leading them was a woman who I'd never seen before. Her long hair, which hung in two strands on either side of her head through two skull-shaped hair adornments, was dyed pink and yellow. She wore a different version of the Skull Uniform, which included baggy sweatpants and an athletic top, baring her midriff. It was fairly easy to tell that she was in command there, much as Gladion had been previously. Her eyes, electric yellow, had makeup caking the outline of it.

"You!" She strode towards me, and I felt Keyki tense up beside me. The grunts followed suit, still making ridiculous hand motions as the walked. "You're this 'Kalypso' my little Maine keeps telling me about?" I looked towards the other girl, who wouldn't make eye contact with me.

"So you sounded like such a treat, I had to search you up!" The leader removed a phone from her pocket, drawing up a bright blue screen. She shoved the screen in my face, and in the brief moment I had before she ripped it away, I noticed that it seemed to be a list of some sort, with all known members of Team Skull and their code names. "Turns out, you don't exist! Fancy that, huh?"

"That's definitely her, Big Sis!" One of the followers muttered, pointing at me. "She's the one who messed around with us on Melemele!"

"So, you've just been disrupting all sorts of missions, huh?" The leader glared at me, her yellow eyes piecing me. I could feel her dissecting me with them. "That shows some guts. More than these goons have, at least. The name's Plumeria. Nice to meet you. I feel like Guzma would be interested in meeting you."

Guzma. That name again.

"Kaia," I could nearly feel Keyki's anger rising off her as she spoke, "that's the guy who raided my village."

I nodded, to show that I was listening. It was all I could do. Despite being more open to my powers now, I still wasn't eager to share them with a hostile group.

"Sorry, but I think I'm gonna have to decline." Maine finally looked up at me, mouth hanging open. Plumeria seemed momentarily taken aback as well, if only for the smile that was present on my face. "I much enjoyed my brief time with your organization and all, but my first exposure to you people as a unit was a group of you beating up on a small, defenceless petilil. So forgive me if you people leave a distaste in my mouth as a unit."

Plumeria's face twisted in a mixture of rage and respect. "Now, listen here," she muttered darkly, "these guys may be dumb and thoughtless, but no outsider is allowed to bully them on my watch." She reached towards her belt, where I saw two pokeballs lining the slots.

"You want us to help, Big Sis?"

I could see that Plumeria was one step from blowing up. "No!" She turned back to me. "You! Fight me! I'll pay you back for insulting my idiot brothers and sisters!"

I reached towards Lani's pokeball, stopping when I felt Keyki's hand on mine. "Let me, Kaia." Her voice was soft, but not her typical softness. It was the softness in the voice of someone who was about to lose their cool.

I blinked. Part of me told me that letting Keyki fight in this battle was a bad idea. She was too worked up. But how could I take the opportunity for revenge away from her. Sighing, I turned back to Plumeria. "Fine. Let's do this."

"Alright, idiots, step back!" Plumeria shoved her way past the members of Team Skull, moving towards the centre of the road. I followed, Keyki hot on my heels. As we arrived in the centre of the road, Plumeria released her pokemon.

Lizard-like, black and pink scales with long appendages, I felt a shudder go up my spine as I recognized the horrid creature. Salazzle.

"Keyki, that thing is a fire type and a poison type." I muttered, watching... her, I guess, take note of her surroundings. "I think I should use Lani."

"No Kaia, please." Her orange eyes were tilted downwards. Sadness? Anger? I wasn’t sure. ”I can do this! I finally have the strength to fight back against these jerks!"

I sighed. "Alright, Keyki. But we're switching out out at the sign of danger."

The lilligant nodded, stepping out in front of me.

Salazzle moved first. Launching forward, it blasted a ball of fire from its mouth. "Keyki, dart left and then go for a Quiver Dance!" Keyki followed through, just narrowly dodging the blast  
of fire. I let out the breath I wasn't aware I was holding.

Keyki began to dance, her leaves swaying to and fro in the wind. I heard the sound of a picture being taken, and glanced over to see Maine, her camera in hand, taking a snapshot of Keyki's dancing. Now finished her dance, Keyki was more powerful and quicker.

"Keyki! Go for a Magical Leaf!"

"Dodge it, Hesta! Then go in for the Poison Gas!"

Keyki summoned the storm of glowing leaves, but in that time, the Salazzle darted in, letting loose a cloud of purple gas directly on top of Keyki, obscuring my vision. When the gas cleared, Keyki had launched the magical leaves at her opponent, but was kneeling on the ground.

"Well done, Hesta!" Plumeria sneered, her white eyeliner combined with the light of the setting sun casting an odd shadow across her face. "Follow up with a Flame Burst!"

"Keyki, protect!" A green barrier crossed over Keyki, blocking the flame burst before it could strike her. Still, I noted that Keyki flinched as she used the attack. She was poisoned, then.  
I needed to wrap the battle up, fast. "Keyki! Quickly, use Synthesis and then take it out with another Magical Leaf!"

Nodding, the plant-like pokemon looked to the sky, and a pristine white light washed over her. Even the Salazzle seemed stunned by the sheer purity of it. Soon, Keyki was back on her feet, if a little weak still. Conjuring the leaves once more, she shot them at the lizard, who dodged out of the way. Still, a decent chunk of the magic caught her, causing her to stumble.  
Plumeria was back to studying me. After a moment, her eyes lit up, though for what, I wasn't sure. Quickly, she retrieved her pokeball, recalling her Salazzle. "Whatever," she grumbled, trying to play off the recognition I had seen.

"Sis!" Jacket exclaimed, reaching for his own pokemon, "I'll help you!"

"Don't!" She growled, walking back to the group, "you dumbasses have embarrassed me enough today. Let's just get out of here."

Most of her goons seemed confused at the sudden shift in mood, but followed her orders regardless. Still walking like idiots, the group left, with Plumeria taking up the rear. As they turned the corner of one of the side streets, however, I caught her giving me a glance-over.

Yellow eyes.

* * *

“Kaia.”

“Anabel.”

She stared down at me, while I refused to make eye-contact with her. Instead, I focused on my magazine. “Oh, Wallace Lacroix is cheating on Steven Stone with Juan DeCardo in a secret affair?” I asked myself, flipping the page. “Not a very ‘secret’ affair if you guys know about it.”

“How do I leave you alone for ten minutes and you get your pokemon nearly killed?” Annabel slumped into the chair next to me. “You’re lucky I found these two before they got into trouble.” She motioned to Gabrielle and Soren, who were sitting neatly by the coffeetable. Soren looked guilty, his yellow pupils downcast, while Gabrielle merely looked embarrassed.

“Sorry, Kaia. I should have been protecting you,” Soren muttered, lowering his head to rest on one of his legs. “We won’t run off again.”

“Don’t worry about it, Soren,” I replied, scratching in between his ears, “You couldn’t have known. Hell, you’ve never even met those losers.”

“I guess so.”

“Besides,” I said, trying to sound perky. “I had Keyki to help me out! Lani, Luso and Iro were there to help out too!”

Iro. I hadn’t told him about Keyki’s… injuries yet. Hopefully, once she was done in emergency care, there wouldn’t be a need to.

“I hope Keyki turns out alright,” Gabrielle murmured after a moment, staring at the centre counter. “She’s the only one on this team who tends to think rationally besides myself.”

“Hey!” Soren sat up, glaring at her.

“No offence, Sor.” She cooed, shuffling her wings. “But saving me and nearly dying back in the Lush Jungle wasn’t exactly logical.” Despite her harsh words, Gabrielle’s mood shifted as she talked about the incident. I was fairly certain that, if she were human, she would be blushing profusely right now. Judging by her body language, at least.

“If that was unlogical,” Soren growled, laying back down, “I don’t want to be logical.”

“Illogical.”

“Shush.”

Annabel looked up from her phone towards me. “Did you at least figure out where Olivia is?”

I closed my magazine, shaking my head. “No. The guy at the shop wouldn’t give me answers.”

“Well,” she said, showing me her phone, “fortunately, I did.”

I read the screen. It was a text from someone labeled ‘O <3’, and the text read that she was in the Ruins of Life, praying to Tapu Lele.

“Is this from…?”

“Olivia, yes. All you have to do is go past Memorial Hill, you’ll find it.”

I nodded. “Are you not coming with me?”

She shook her head, stowing her phone. “Sorry. I have some more business to take care of in Konikoni. Besides, I’m sure you have some business to take care of at Memorial Hill, right?”

Oh.

“Miss Stirling, your pokemon is ready!” The nurse’s voice came from the counter, shaking me from the conversation. Thanking Anabel, I began to walk away.

“Oh, and Kaia!” I turned back, catching a glimpse of a frown on Anabel’s face. “…Go easy on yourself, alright? I know it’ll be hard.”

I noted Soren and Gabrielle looking at each other nervously. "Thanks. I will." I murmured, turning back towards the counter.

* * *

“Guys?”

Silence.

“I don’t expect a response. Despite all the crazy shit that has happened to me recently, speaking to the dead isn’t exactly in my repertoire.” I brushed the dirt around my feet absently. “I don’t think.”

Still, silence.

“I don’t know if I’m doing the right thing,” I whispered, wiping a speck of dust from my eye. Yeah, a speck. “I’m barely holding this team together. I’m barely holding myself together. I’m constantly putting everyone at risk.” Another deep breath, trying to renew the air that was suddenly missing from my chest. “I’ve-- I’ve done well, since the incident in Heahea. We’ve done well.”

I traced my fingers over the dusty tombstone for a moment, feeling out the letters barely illuminated by the moon. The sheer number of pokemon casualties in Heahea had filled up the cemetery dramatically, so they had to condense graves. They were trying to stick to two pokemon per grave, but since I only had two bodies to bury, they just put all of mine in the one.

Flores. Sage. Varia. Ranger.

“But not well enough. I’m sorry you all got stuck with a crappy trainer like me.”

I took another sip of the bottle beside me. I resisted the urge to cough as the liquid burned down my throat.

“...If I’m doing the right thing, would you send me a sign? Something to tell me to keep going.”

...Nothing.

“Yeah…” I set the bottle down, staring up at the stars, brightly gleaming in the sky. “I guess I deserve that. I’m not exactly sure what I was expecting.”


	26. twenty-five: echoes of you

_what i know tomorrow, i'm learnin' today_  
_you said you're leaving, you're going away  
_ _but hey if you're going i'm comin' your way_

 

“Are you prepared, Kaia?”

She was staring me down, a smile on her face. Dressed casually, in purples and pinks, she still commanded a presence without any effort. When I fought Hala, he commanded this presence with his immense height and size. Olivia, on the other had, still felt like an ordinary woman. That only made her seem ten times as deadly. There was a sense of determination in her eyes. She wasn’t gonna give any leeway; it was all or nothing.

“I am.”

Her lycanroc, large and intimidating, bared her teeth. “Gooood, then we can finally get this out of the way,” she muttered, her crimson eyes mirroring her trainer’s.

“Don’t underestimate them, Nymeria,” Olivia scolded, crossing her arms. She had a strange connection to her pokemon. She wasn’t a Faller, that was obvious, but still. She and Nymeria were on a different level.

“Me, specifically.” Lani, who had taken her position on the field, was prepared as well. She had pumped herself up for this, I knew that. The late night training sessions and constant improvement made it all the more evident. “Don’t underestimate _me_.”

Nymeria mashed her teeth together, spit flying. She seemed to love hamming it up, as she slipped into a grin immediately afterwards. Still, combined with her red eyes, it did not reduce the menace that washed over the clearing. “You are talented, little one, but you are still weak and undisciplined. Do not become overconfident in your skill— it will only lead to heartbreak.”

Lycanroc were strange creatures, in all honesty. The evolution of Rockruff, no one is quite sure why they have two drastically different forms. Many have theorized that their method of evolution is related to the Espeon/Umbreon dilemma, but no proof of that has ever been found. Furthermore, whereas Eevee can only evolve into Espeon or Umbreon at random in the day or nighttime respectively, lycanroc have show the ability to evolve into either one at any given moment. Still, that only made them more fascinating. Nymeria was of the form typically associated with the moon, due to them being traditionally nocturnal. Dad had a lycanroc too, Mickey, and he was a sun lycanroc. He always used to snuggle into me during cold winter nights.

I wondered if he was doing alright.

Olivia extended her hand to me, motioning, casual as ever. “Well then, Kaia. Take the first move, unless you wish to continue chit-chatting?”

I nodded, inhaling a short, stilted breath. “Lani, don’t be intimidated by her size,” I whispered, crouching down to give some final words of encouragement, “she’ll be easy to outmaneuver.”

“You’ve got it, Kaia. Leave it to me.” Lani hopped back to her position, clearly fired up.

I took another breath, deeper this time. Confident. “Lani go! Take the first strike! Go for the Soaring Lion!” I had a momentary flashback to the battle with Gladion. So much had changed in so little time. “Now!”

She darted forward, enhancing her speed with an aqua jet. Nymeria didn’t react to the speeding sea lion at all, staying near motionless. I grinned. Hala had pulled the same trick. “Lani, make sure not to touch Nymeria! Use your water to propel yourself upwards instead!”

Olivia smiled as Lani sent a blast of water towards the ground, launching into the air. Nymeria suddenly lashed out, swiping at nothing. “Impressive!” Olivia called, as Lani sent another blast directly at the lycanroc.

Nymeria attempted to regain ground after her blunder, before scrambling out of the way. She was surprising fast, but the scalding water still grazed her back, and she let out a howl of agony as a burn developed on her skin. Lani landed back out the ground behind her, directly in front of the Ruins of Life.

The lycanroc recovered from her wound, standing back up. Still, she didn’t move beyond that. I attempted to read Olivia’s game plan, but got nothing. I had already dismantled the counter strategy, so she couldn’t possibly be sticking to that. Every good trainer knew to have a back-up strategy in mind, in case of a sudden blunder or misstep. Only a rookie sticks to a single strategy, even if it isn’t working. Hell, even right now, I had Luso waiting in the wings, in case this plan went to shit.

The kahuna chuckled, shaking me out of my thoughts. “Well, we are in a bit of a jam, aren’t we?” she asked, stunning me. “At a type-disadvantage with our main strategy ousted.” Did she really have no backup plan? My skin prickled, telling me to keep on my toes. “I suppose we’ll have to pull out our trump card sooner than expected.” As she said that, the bracelet around her arm began to glow. Energy, brown like dirt, began to flow into Nymeria.

Shit.

At once, Nymeria let out a dreadful howl. The energy released from her, spreading around her into the clearing. The blast nearly knocked me from my feet. The earth itself began to shake, as though it were about to explode. And it did, in a way. From the earth, dozens of rocks burst from the ground, levitating in the air around Nymeria. All in all, there was maybe a good twenty or thirty boulders. And with a single motion of her paw, they all began flying towards Lani at top speed.

To her credit, Lani reacted much quicker than I did. I blanked, but the popplio began blocking the boulders as they came at her, with blast of water and fairy attacks. One slipped through the barrage, slamming into her side. This seemingly knocked her off of her game, because two more struck her, drawing blood.

_She looked so helpless, fluttering around. She just wanted to help, somehow. And then it slammed into her. She didn’t even see it happen, of course, she didn’t even see anything. But one minute she was there, right in front of me, and then she was gone._

I shook myself out of my doldrums, steeling my resolve. “Keep at it, Lani! You’ve got this.”

And she did. With one large burst of water, she blasted the rest of the rocks away, before launching a wave at Nymeria. The lycanroc was clearly worn down from the move she had just unleashed, and fell to her knees with a pained howl.

Olivia grinned, returning the pokemon to her pokeball. I raced towards Lani, digging for a potion in my bag. The sea lion gave a weak smile as I approached, knees landing in the dirt as I began to spray wildly. The wounds begin to close, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thanks, Lani, you did great,” I murmured, giving her a pat on the head before returning her to her pokeball.

“Nicely done!” Olivia exclaimed as she strode over to me. I stood from my position in the dirt, wiping some of the residual mud off my knees. “You and your popplio have an extremely great connection!”

“Thanks,” I replied, scratching my arm and glancing away from her. “It means a lot to hear you say that.”

“If I might ask, though.” She pointed down at the bracelet around my arm. “I can’t help but notice you have a Astral Key.”

“Astral Key?” I asked, holding up the shimmering white trinket. “This? Hala called it an Astral Key too, but I’ve heard more people use the term Z-Ring.”

“Z-Ring is a long-existing slang word,” she explained, holding up her own. Unlike mine or Hala’s, Olivia’s Key was a faded brown with sharp stone-like adornments. “Derived from the Z-Moves, I suppose. But Astral Key is their official name.” She sighed, shaking her head. “I suppose Z-Ring sounds cooler with the kids these days or something. More marketable.”

I shrugged. “I dunno, I think Astral Key sounds way cooler.”

She seemed to brighten at that. “Me too! That makes me feel like less of a grandma, I suppose.” Shaking her head, she continued her train of thought. “Either way, I was surprised you had one in your possession, but I was even more surprised that you chose not to use it. Especially since,” she motioned to the crystal again, “you clearly have Waterium Z in your possession.”

I stared down at my feet. “I… don’t know how to use Z-moves. I’ve used one before but I haven’t been able to use it again.”

A dark look crossed the kahuna’s face. “That’s not good. In most cases, using a Z-Move should be as simple as snapping your fingers.” She scratched her chin for a moment, before nodding. Her frown faded, being replaced by her trademark smile again. “If you want, we could try asking Tapu Lele?”

I blinked, before turning to look at the Ruins of Life behind me. I briefly thought of Lillie— She had wanted to come here with me, she said. Back on the ferry. So much had changed since then, it was hard to picture us walking through the ruins with Nebby now. After I had been so rude to her.

“I mean…” I took a breath. “If you’re offering.”

* * *

There was a sense of contradiction in the Ruins of Life. From the moment we stepped inside, there was a gut feeling that I both belonged there, but also a feeling that should leave immediately. We entered Tapu Lele’s chambers, a small room with a large shrine dedicated to the goddess in the centre of the back wall. A statue, presumably of the goddess, stood on a raised floorboard, staring down at the two of us. Despite the Tapus typically appearing in pokemon form in most legends, here she was depicted as a beautiful woman with a long flowing robe. In her hands, she held a sword between her fingertips. There were two odd gems in her eye sockets, that glistened pink. It almost looked as though the goddess herself was staring down at us. Torches were dimly lit alongside the walls, creating an ominous atmosphere within the chamber.

“Do you know much about this place, Kaia?” Olivia asked, her short dark hair appearing almost orange in the firelight.

“Not as much as I would like,” I replied, forcing my mouth to close as opposed to hanging open like an idiot.

“According to alolan legend, the Ruins of Life was the sanctuary for Tapu Lele and her disciple, the Moonmother,” Olivia said, before taking a seat in the centre of the room. She wasn’t looking at me; instead, she faced away, her eyes glued to the shrine. “Lele had rescued her disciple from a lake, which would later be known as the Lake of the Sunne, after she suddenly appeared there, grievously injured, just as her brothers Koko and Bulu had rescued the Sunfather and…” Olivia trailed off for a moment, before continuing, “…the other one.”

I took a seat beside her, mimicking her pose and posture. She was sitting cross-legged, almost as though she were near about to mediate, and her fists were pressed together, knuckles interlocking. I was tempted to ask who the other one was, but didn’t want to interrupt her story.

“The Moonmother, a mere girl at the time, was naive, but Lele chose to see that naivety as optimism. The girl did not enjoy fighting, so Lele trained her to be a healer, to help those around her.” Olivia inhaled, and I mimicked her a moment later. “She went on to play an instrumental part in the Incursion.”

“The Incursion?” I couldn’t help but ask.

Olivia shook her head. “A war that occurred at some point during Alola’s past. Very few of your textbooks would reference it, as it has ascended to mere myth status at this point, but Lele herself has told it to be true.” The woman winked. “And if you can’t trust a god’s word, whose can you?”

“But…” I looked back towards the shrine of Lele. “Who were they fighting? Why were they fighting?”

Again, she shook her head. “Alas, the Tapu will not tell me,” she sighed, before hastily adding, “though I am sure it is for good reason.” She smiled at me again, but it was a strained one.

It must be hard to speak your mind while constantly having a god hovering over you.

We were both silent for a moment, before I spoke again. “You said you thought this would… help me?”

Olivia blinked. “Oh! Of course!” She chuckled awkwardly. “Sorry, I have a tendency to get a bit distracted.” Clearing her throat, she began to speak in a soothing, calm voice. “Close your eyes and picture a memory. Any memory will do.”

Any memory? The first that came to my mind, almost as soon as I closed my eyes, was of Hau, Lillie and I, sitting in that bar together for my birthday. Lillie had gone temporarily crazy, and Hau and I had to force her to sit down and stop harassing the old man in the booth next to us. He had looked like he was about to have a heart attack! Of course, Lille just called him a coward before he—

And then another memory hit me, like a freight train slamming into me at full speed. Varia, turning to the sound of my voice, before getting smacked into the portal. Disappearing, in the blink of an eye. I had messed up, distracted her while she was battling, and she had paid with her life for it. I hadn’t even been able to do anything. Even after she died, my cowardice caused Ranger to die too. I had fucked up and I felt my lungs constricting again as the feelings came back. I began to shove them down again, ignore them and force them out of my head like I had for all the times I had woken up with nightmares in the past year and—

“Interesting.” Olivia’s voice shook me from my memories, and I took a deep, shaky breath. “You have… forced a block on yourself.”

“I… what?”

She sighed, opening her own eyes as I opened mine. “Astralium… it is a very interesting mineral. Even in its altered form, it is a very powerful thing.” She held her own Key aloft. “I try to treat my Astralium… like a friend. It is a strange thing… almost as though it can sense and react to emotions. But you… Lele tells me you are a very closed-off person.” She closed her eyes again. “You are refusing to acknowledge your own emotions, and the Astralium can sense that.”

I exhaled a shallow breath. She was speaking nonsense. “…And?”

“And when you do acknowledge them,” she muttered, turning to me. Her eyes, normally a chocolate brown, flashed a bright blue for a moment. “I would hate to be your enemy.”

* * *

“You humans are strange creatures. …Queen to E-4.”

Luso always seemed happier when he was outside. Especially when the salt of the sea air was mingling in the air. Perhaps it reminded him of home. Or maybe he just liked the outdoors, for whatever reason. Still, he was in a downright pleasant mood today.

I looked towards Soren and Gabrielle, who were chatting close to a nearby bench. They looked happy too. In fact, it was a fairly good day overall, for all of us. Keyki and Iro had decided to explore the town together, Keyki excited to show Iro where she had defeated Plumeria’s Salazzle.

A good day.

We had decided to spend a few days in Konikoni City, even though we had more trials to do on Ula’Ula. Hau was challenging Olivia tomorrow, and Lillie had a few things to do on the Royal Avenue before she was ready to move on. Despite the conflict between the three us, I didn’t want to go to Ula’Ula without them. So here we were, three days after challenging Olivia, and Luso and I had taken to playing chess together.

“Y’know, you keep saying that,” I chuckled, before moving my own piece, “but you never exactly explain why.”

He shrugged. “I’m just saying. After days of playing this dumb game with you, I still don’t understand why someone would bother playing.” His tail flicked back and forth, before he moved his piece.

“I’ve told you already,” I murmured, trying to read his next move. While I had won our first few games with relative ease, Luso was catching up quickly. It was weird, how easily he learned. It had taken Daisy and I several years to become adept at the game. “It helps to improve strategy. Not to mention it’s fun.”

“Well, I suppose ‘fun’ is subjective.” He scratched his chin. “Still, I see where you’re coming from when it comes to the strategic aspect. Especially as it relates to you.” He moved a piece.

I moved mine. “How it relates to who?”

He shuffled slightly, approaching the board. “Well, the pieces. They’re very similar to the roles you’ve carved for your teammates.” He grasped the white king, my own. “The king. The most important piece in the game, yet also the weakest. Even that pawns can become stronger than it with time. But lose the king, and you lose the game,” he said, before looking towards me.

“Oh.” I rolled my eyes. “Right. I’ll try to take that as a compliment.”

Moving on, he pointed to the white queen. “The queen. Arguably the most powerful piece in the game, and the second most important. Consistently reliable.” He considered it for a moment. “Quite simply, that would most likely be Lani.”

I blinked. “Lani?”

He nodded. “I’ve noticed that you tend to use her when you’re in a jam. For example, during the water trial.” After noting my acceptance, he continued. “Next, the rook. Simple, yet reliable. Not complex to use. Recently, this would be Soren.”

“Really?” I grasped one of my own pieces, tapping it lightly on the board. “I would have thought that would be like… you or Iro, maybe.”

Luso shook his head. “No-no-no,” he grumbled, eyes shifting back and forth around the chessboard. “Iro, as well as Keyki, would more likely be bishops. Not quite as diverse as the rook in its capabilities, but can still get the job done when necessary.” He smiled at me. “For example, I heard Keyki recently kicked some major Skull ass. Good riddance, I say, those idiots were always walking around my tribe like they owned the place.”

Returning my attention to the chessboard, I made a tally of the remaining pieces. “So does that make you the knight?” I laughed. “You don’t strike me as very knightly.”

“On the contrary, I believe that would be our good ‘friend’ Gabrielle,” he said, his voice filled with a strange contempt that took me aback for a moment. I hadn’t realized that Luso felt negatively about Gabrielle, but his feelings were quite clear on her. Even Iro, who he seemed to dislike, he had just spoken about respectfully. “Would be the knight. Rarely contributes and struggles to defeat opponents, but helpful in a pinch.”

“I can hear you guys, y’know,” Gabrielle, still deep in conversation with Soren, shouted before glaring at us. Her auditory skills were surprising, to say the least, considering the two of them were sitting a good fifteen feet away. That was the issue with having friends who had much better senses than you do, I suppose.

I nodded, before looking down at the board. “Wait, what does that make you then?” He refused to make eye-contact with me. “Luso.” Still, nothing. I breathed in, trying not to get frustrated. “Do you think I think of you as a pawn?”

It was as though something had snapped in him, and he glared right back at me. “So you are seriously telling me that you don’t think of me as a pawn, too?” He growled, his brown eyes slowly gathering heat. “If you were forced to send one of us to our deaths for the rest of the team, you’re going to tell me that it wouldn’t be me?”

“I—“

“And I know,” he continued, eyes now glowing a demonic red, “I know that it’s my fault. I didn’t acknowledge your authority in time and created a ruckus for everyone, I get that. But don’t you dare talk to me like I’m not the lowest rung on the ladder, like I always have been.”

“Luso, I—“

“Save it, Kaia. I need to get some space, please.” He stood from his seat, hopping down onto the stone patio. With a final glare at me, he walked away.

Fuck.

* * *

From: w-landa@aetherfoundation.org  
To: kstirling@xatuu.com  
Subject: Congratulations!

Dear Miss Stirling,

On behalf of all of us at the Aether Foundation, I’m happy to announce you as our winner for the recent scientific essay contest! We found your perspective on alolan rattata and their nature as a species to be incredibly well documented and well written. In fact, our president, Ms. Lusamine Steele, picked your essay out of the bunch herself!

Now, as you know, the prize for the contest is a free tour of the Aether facilities for you and a friend, wherein you’ll meet some extremely influential people in the field of science, as well as the promise of funding for your future scientific endeavours! Please let me know whether you accept or not so we can get you here as soon as possible.

Oh, also: within your essay, you mention how your rattata is the only one of your pokemon to be able to perform a Z-Move. Kudos! Would you be willing to bring him along with you? Ms. Steele is very interested in meeting a pokemon who can perform a Z-Move. It is completely understandable if you need to turn down this request! Ms. Steele will be disappointed, but she will understand.

Thanks for your time, and I hope to hear back from you soon!

Wicke Landa  
Assistant Branch Chief  
Aether Foundation, Alola Branch


	27. twenty-six: clementine

_don’t hold me up now  
_ _i can stand my own ground  
_ _i don’t need your help now  
_ _you will let me down, down, down!_

 

The Aether Paradise cut an intimidating presence among the calm ocean waves.

Known as the floating city, it was a manmade island created by the Aether Foundation in order to better observe marine life without destroying ocean habitats or disrupting ocean currents. The foundation had fluctuating levels of involvement in different regions, with Alola being their home base ever since they had emerged onto the scene a decade or so ago.

Gabrielle shuffled on my shoulder, a twinkle in her eye as she observed the paradise. When she saw me staring, she turned away, blinking rapidly. I couldn’t help but grin.

In the seat to my left, Hau stared out the window, his fingers pressed onto the window. In his lap, Zip, now a raichu, nibbled on what appeared to be a pancake. I had asked him to come with me in hopes of repairing the friendship, but he hadn’t talked to me since we boarded. “Don’t take it personally,” I told myself, but it still hurt. Sent the invitation to Lillie too, but she hadn’t responded in time.

“Exciting, isn’t it?” Dr. Faba, an Aether scientist, spoke up from my right. A tall, slender man, he wore a pristine white lab coat and a pair of oversized green glasses. He scratched his goatee, nearly as blonde as his lab coat, as he took in the floating city once more. “I remember my first time seeing it.”

Faba had been the one to pick us up. Hau and I had met in the Konikoni City Harbour this morning— he finished his battle with Olivia. A few hours later, the scientist had arrived in one of Aether’s ships, ferrying us towards the floating island. However, unlike the Ferry we had taken from Melemele, we had made much quicker progress due to the differing nature of the two boats: sleek powerboat versus bulky ferry. Now, as the sun was beginning to set among the ocean waves, we made our approach.

“I guess,” I replied, shrugging. I tried not to get jitters. There would be dozens of researchers and scientists at Aether. Like Wicke had said, there are so many potential contacts here, if I made a good impression, I could get a nice job straight out of university. Fuck.

“So when we get there,” Faba turned to the two of us, and Hau looked towards the man as he addressed him, “You two should be on your best behaviour. There are many important things at work, and you would do well not to disturb them.” He glared at Hau specifically, who shrinked away from his gaze. “Also, while you are free to have your pokemon out in the habitat area, we would ask you to return them to their pokeballs while wandering the rest of the island.”

Frowning, I looked up towards Gabrielle. “Uh… that might be a problem? Gabrielle here doesn’t have a pokeball.”

He stared me down, adjusting his glasses. “What? Why not?”

It was a complicated question. “She just… doesn’t.”

He sighed. “I suppose we can make an exception, just this once. I fear Ms. Steele would despise me if I turned you away because of this.” He turned his gaze to Hau, who reached for his pokeball and returned Zip. “Thank you, Mr. Reyes.”

“No prob, Bob.”

“Who is Bob?”

Has blinked. “He’s… uh… y’know what, nevermind.”

* * *

If Aether was intimidating from the water, it was even more so from inside.

When we arrived, I was immediately struck by the sheer size of it. The docks, as pristine and white as the outside of the building, seemed to extend outwards for far too long. Judging by Hau’s slack jaw, he was impressed as well. After leaving the boat, we were led by Faba towards the elevator, an large, expansive machine that resembled something out of a sci-fi movie. Faba went on about how the island was created, something about motors or something, but I honestly tuned him out fairly quickly. While he seemed like a nice man, he was uninteresting compared to all the sights around me.

“…elevator leads is the main transport throughout the island,” Faba said as I tuned back in. “From here, we could go down a floor to the labs, up a floor to the clinic, or to the very top floor, which houses a state of the art vivarium.” Motioning on the strange control pad as we entered the elevator, the floor beneath us began to rise nearly immediately.

“What kinds of pokemon are housed here, Dr. Faba?” Has asked as he swivelled his head to observe the pristine white elevator.

The scientist coughed, adjusting his tie beneath his lab coat. “All sorts!” The elevator stopped, glass doors sliding open to reveal a small lobby. There was a small sections of Aether employees loitering around. Behind them, there was a small security gate with what appeared to be a keycard scanner that lead to what was presumably the vivarium. We stepped from the elevator, entering the mill of employees. “Though that particular branch isn’t exactly my specialty, Aether takes in any pokemon who needs it.”

“So… would we see stuff like corsola?” I asked, grabbing my notebook from my bag and preparing to scribble any and all notes. “They’re endangered in Alola, due to the local mareanie taking to them as a food source.”

Has chuckled as I revealed my notepad. “Wow, you look like the splitting image of your mom.”

“Tell her and I will literally, not figuratively, kill you.”

He opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by a call from across the room. Faba’s eyes lit in recognition, and began striding through the crowd towards the noise. Hau and I shuffled after him, pushing past several white-clad figures. Briefly, I wondered what the company even needed so many employees for. Most of the underlings should have been out in the region, rescuing pokemon in need. So why were so many stationed her, presumably doing nothing?

We approached a woman, decently short with a curvy figure. She had poofy, dark locks of hair done up carefully, and her white coat was complemented by a large pair of pink-framed glasses. As we made our way to her, she jotted something down on the clipboard, before glancing back up at us.

“Ah, Faba, you’ve returned! And with our promising young contest winners, I presume?” She looked towards me, a warm smile on her face. “Miss Stirling, I presume?” She stuck her hand out.

“Just Kaia is fine.” I took her hand, giving it a light shake. As I accepted the handshake, her smile changed to something similar to a frown, only for a moment. By the time I blinked again, her smile had returned. “And you are?”

“My name is Wicke Landa, I believe we spoke via email?” She turned to Hau. “And this is the Mr. Reyes you mentioned within said emails?”

“You can call me Hau, Ms. Landa,” he replied quietly, accepting her offer of a handshake as well.

“Only if you’ll both call me Wicke!” She chuckled, before looking to Faba. “Thank you, Faba, for bringing them to me, I’ll walk them to the President. You may return to your work.”

“Of course, Ms. Landa,” the scientist replied graciously, though there was a hint of bitterness within his voice. He turned to us, placing a hand on Hau’s shoulder. “Take care, you two! It was nice to meet you.”

As he left, Wicke glanced at the vivarium doors. “Well then! Ms. Steele wished to meet the two of you within the Paradise. More ‘authentic’, in her words.” She began to laugh at a joke that I apparently didn’t exactly understand. Still, I chuckled along, and Hau soon joined in. “Well, we should head over there, shouldn’t we?”

* * *

With a soft clink, the glass doors slid open.

The first thing to hit my nose was the stench. Compared to the clean, almost sterile environment of the rest of the Aether Foundation, there was the distinct scent of wilderness, even in a falsified version of it. As I stepped into the vivarium, memories flooded into my mind— of wandering Melemele, of discovering Keyki in the strange forest within the mountain, of meeting Gabrielle amidst the flowers of Route 6. There was a soothing nature to it, as though everything from here on out would be fine and the world itself was protecting me.

“It’s so… authentic,” Hau murmured, scratching his nose. “It feels like we’re really in the wild.”

Wicke laughed. “That’s good, I suppose! That _is_ the goal, you know.” She chuckled again as Hau’s face turned a bright orange. “Now, come along you too, the President would be extremely displeased if we were late.” With that, she was off again, striding down the white tiled path.

As I got a better look at the vivarium, I was even more impressed. It was absolutely huge! And split into proper biomes and climates as well, from the looks of it. The majority of the place was laced with an odd-shaped pond, one that resembled more of a flowing river rather than a still lake. But this river spread out through nearly the entire habitat, only halting when it came to the mountainous biome or the frigid biome. It was strange; there was a white pathway suspended above the majority of the habitat, clearly for employees and visitors to walk through, but it almost resembled a large spiderweb in a way. There was a large, circular area in the middle, and from there, several of the white paths spread outwards, one of which leading directly to us. As we walked, I took notes.

There _were_ corsola! They all huddled together in one of the ponds, plucking dirt from the coral on each others back. I had never heard of them doing that! My theory was that these corsola didn’t have to deal with the constant stress of the deep sea, and therefore found the time to preen! Fascinating. No mareanie, as to be expected, but they were most likely not in need of any aid, considering their reputation as the most expert hunters of the deep sea. Though that did bring up the question: if there was a mareanie in need of aid, how would they help it without endangering the corsola? They could just release it back into the sea after healing it, but that seemed… callous, somehow. Ah well, it was something else to ask the president.

Also interesting: in one of the trees, we saw a group of seedot! They weren’t typically native to the Alola region, so it was a surprise to see them, but a welcome one. When we passed the tree, there was a group of them pretending to be acorns! I only noticed due to seeing a ducklett get spooked by one of them suddenly moving, and beginning to polish its body with leaves! Truly, a fascinating species.

Gabrielle was still seated on my shoulder, quiet throughout the entire trip through the Paradise. Every once in a while, she would flutter her wings when one of the pokemon got too close, or there was something interesting to see a bit farther down. At one point, I heard her mutter something along the lines of “not natural”, but I was a bit too engrossed in the environment around me to care.

Soon, we reached the epicentre, a small circular platform suspended over a large, deep lake, judging by the change in shade of the water. Standing in the centre was a woman, extremely tall (as in, at least six feet), though how much of that could be attributed to her heels, who could say. She had long, luscious blonde hair that hung off her shoulders, down all the way to just below her rear. As we approached, the woman turned, revealing vibrant green eyes and a soft smile. She had her hand out, grasping at thin air, and she lowered it as we arrived.

“Ms. Steele!” Wicke waved to her, before shuffling in her direction. I followed closely behind, reciting exactly what I wanted to say. She wasn’t my hero by any means, but she did have some powerful connections in my future field, which meant that I could make or break my career at this moment. I stood to the right of Wicke, while Hau moved to stand at her left. Wicke motioned to the two of us in turn. “This is the essay contest winner, Miss Kaia Stirling, and her boyfriend, Hau Reyes.”

“She’s not my girlfriend,” Hau spoke up before I could.

“My apologies,” Wicke replied, though there was a smile still on her face as she turned back to the President.

“Miss… Stirling?” Lusamine extended her hand, which I gracefully accepted. Her accent was vaguely Kalosian, with several extended os and us. “A pleasure to meet you. My name is Lusamine Steele, but Ms. Steele will do fine.” After I finished shaking her hand, she extended it to Hau, who shook as well. “How are you enjoying the Paradise? I trust you had a safe trip.”

“It’s fantastic!” I exclaimed, this time managing to beat Hau to the punch. “It’s a dream come true, honestly.”

“I’m glad!” She laughed, it was aloof and minimal, but there was something about that laugh that made me proud that I was able to coax it out of her. “You were the one with the piece on the rattata, correct? I must say, truly fascinating stuff! The way you seemed to intimately know how your pokemon were feeling… magnificent! Also, I understand that you— the two of you,” she corrected, including Hau in the conversation, “are pokemon trainers?” She didn’t seem to notice Gabrielle sitting on my shoulder— instead, she was focused on us. Her piercing green eyes made me feel shift as she stared us down.

“I am,” the two of us said in unison.

She clapped her hands together. “Marvellous! Would you like to set your pokemon free to roam for the afternoon?” she asked, excitement filtering into her voice. “I would be honoured to see them!”

I glanced towards Hau, who looked at me, my skepticism also reflected in his eyes. It was an odd request but… there was no harm in it, right?

Soon enough, I released my team for a well-deserved break from the action. Hau released his team of three: Zip the raichu, Tsuo the incineroar, and Lucy, his eevee, who had apparently evolved into a leafeon since I had last saw her. “When did…?”

“I’m not sure how it happened, exactly,” he replied, “we were exploring the Lush Jungle with Colress the other day and it just… happened.” I noticed a slight shift in Ms. Steele’s direction as he mentioned Colress, but she was still grinning at us when I looked. I blinked, feeling slightly overwhelmed by the sheer amount of voices now speaking as the pokemon split off into groups to discuss what-have-you.

“I like the new look!” Hau’s leafeon piped in, rustling her leaves. “It suits me, I think.”

“It certainly does, sis,” Soren replied, looking her over, “Reminds me of Aunt Tea.”

“Oh, ew!” his sister exclaimed, darting away. “Don’t compare me with her, she’s a psycho.”

“Don’t let Ma hear you say that,” he chuckled, look at the glass ceiling, where the setting sun was now burning the sky orange. “I wonder if Lillie is treating Elodie alright.”

“Alright guys!” I exclaimed, getting their attention. “You’re free to roam the place. Don’t break anything, and treat the pokemon you see with respect. Got it?”

My guys all muttered various agreements, before splitting off into their groups. Gabrielle, Lucy, and Soren all wandered off together, Iro, Keyki and Luso were in the midst of discussing battle strategies for upcoming fights (yes, I was surprised too), and Lani and Tsuo began discussing what sounded like current states of affairs. Zip remained next to Hau, hovering over his head.

I turned my attention back to Lusamine, who watched the pokemon walk off with delighted glee. “Your pokemon all seem to love and trust you greatly! From what I heard, it sounded like they were all extremely contented, so kudos!” What she heard…?

“Ahaha, well, we try our best,” Hau muttered, scratching the back of his head as his face heated orange. Clearly I wasn’t the only who enjoyed Ms. Steele’s praise.

“Well, Mr. Reyes, I must speak with Miss Stirling alone about her future funding,” she dismissed him, surprisingly cool about it. “Feel free to explore the facilities to your heart’s content.

Hau clearly thought so as well, as he began to stutter through his next line, “O-oh, of course. C’mon Zip, let’s go check out that group of pikachu we saw earlier.” Meanwhile, Wicke seemed to sense a proper time to exit, because she gave a swift bow before moving back in the direction she came. And with that, it was just Lusamine and I.

“Well then,” the President said after a moment of awkwardness, “shall we walk and talk?”

* * *

Lusamine Steele was an… interesting woman. She walked with an innate sense of self-worth; like she owned the entire world and she knew it. That said, she wasn’t narcissistic— not from what I could tell, anyway. She asked me about my recent graduation, and where I was looking to go to school in the fall, and all that jazz. Like that awkward aunt who is barely involved in your life, but insisted on asking how things were going anyway.

As we walked, there was still a question burning in my mind that I felt had to be asked. “Excuse me, Ms. Steele?”

She turned to me. “Yes, Miss Stirling?”

“I was just wondering…” I tried to find the best way to phrase the question. “Earlier you said that you could… hear my pokemon. What did you mean by that.”

She sighed, one that seemed to have a dramatic presence to it. It caught me off guard for a moment, not due to the action itself but the emotion behind it. It felt… odd. “Well, Kaia, in order to answer that question, I have to admit something… I may have brought you here under false pretences.”

In a flash, I suddenly got a horrible feeling. I had been lured, separated from my pokemon. If someone wanted to finish me off, I would be totally defenceless at this moment. But my heart stopped racing, and I took a deep breath. Before saying anything, I chose to let the president finish her thought.

“Don’t get me wrong,” she continued, “I found your essay to be excellent, for sure. But I fear I may have been influence by…” she glanced away towards a nearby group of cutiefly. “…Personal feelings.”

I cleared my throat. “Personal feelings?”

Another sigh. “I am… I was friends with your dad. Back since high school.” I blinked. I had never once heard of a Lusamine Steele from Dad. “I travelled alongside him and your mother during their time in the Alola region.”

Suddenly, it all clicked. “Holy shit,” I muttered, much to Lusamine’s apparent amusement, “you’re Clem Moreau.”

She smiled a soft, sad smile. There was a hint of reminiscence behind that smile, one that I had a tough time deciphering. “Yes. I haven’t heard that name in a long time, however. I had to change it due to… complications, with my ex-husband.” She inhaled a shaky breath. “He was… not a good man, and he threatened the lives of my children several times. So I changed my name and moved to Alola, before starting the Aether Foundation with some funding from my family back in Kalos. Now, fifteen years later, here we are.”

I was briefly unsure as to why she was telling me all this, but still, my heart reached out to her. “I’m… sorry to hear that, Ms. Steele,” I murmured, shifting my hands.

She shook her head. “It’s not your fault. But regardless, when I saw your name on one of the essays, when it was obvious that you could understand your pokemon better than most, when I read that you could use Z-Moves… it gave me hope again… Do you have it? The gift?”

I blinked. “Do you mean… can I speak to pokemon?” She nodded vigourously. “Then yes!”

“Marvellous!” She clapped her hands again. “Then there is still hope!”

“Still hope?” I asked, feeling a strange sensation crawl up my skin. “Still hope for what?”

She stopped in her tracks, and in a whisper, asked, “You don’t know?”

No, but I wanted to. “No, what?”

Gazing back at the orange sky, Lusamine inhaled a deep breath. “I know where your dad is, Kaia.”

Her words hit me like a punch to the gut. “I— he— what?”

“When I had heard your dad had disappeared, I had this strange thought,” she responded, twirling one lock of her hair absently. “I felt like… I knew that he had gone threw the wormhole. Like before.”

I took a moment to process this. “You think that Dad, my father William Stirling, is trapped in the Ultra Beasts’ dimension?”

She took a deep breath, nodding again. I noted that Lusamine had led me back to the central platform where I had first met her. “I do,” she replied, before shaking her head as she saw me deflate. “But we can save him, Kaia! You can save him.”

Save him? I barely even knew him. He disappeared out of my life two years ago, and I had changed and grown so much since then. But… if I could help him… if I prove that I could do things on my own… I’d make him proud. And so, after barely a moment of thought, I spoke again,

“How?”

* * *

“And you really think this is going to work?”

I had my doubts, in all honesty. Lusamine explained it fairly simply: by combining my powers as a Faller plus the power of the Key, I could tear a hole into Ultra Space, and we could go in and rescue Dad. There was something special about this spot, she said. Something that allowed me to tap into Ultra Space, just like the totem pokemon could tap into Ultra Space in their respective regions. There was something terrible about this plan, my brain was screaming at me to stop, but it was Dad. I couldn’t abandon him to this fate, especially if Lusamine’s hunch was correct. And it had to be!

That was why he hadn’t talked to me since he had left… right?

But there was still a part of me that screamed no, that screamed for it to stop. There was something about the story that didn’t seem right. That we were risking our lives for nothing beyond a hunch.

But she gave me no time to think about it. Lusamine — Clementine — insisted that we do it now, immediately. “He can’t wait forever!” she said, clenching fists and grinding teeth, and she was right. If Dad was behind that portal, he needed all the time he could get.

And so, I raised the Key to the air. There was a dark, cracking energy as I did, catching the attention of various pokemon and employees. The sun, finally beginning to disappear into dusk as it finished setting, cast the last remnants of its glow upon the sanctuary.The energy crackled again, before it began to morph into something new. It was as though reality itself were cracking around my wrist. The portal opened.

Silence.

And then laughter, like a child who just found her toy.

A translucent being appeared from the wormhole, and it took me a moment to recognize it. Large, bulbous head, lack of eyes, and dangling tentacles? It looked identical to the creature I had seen during the battle against Totem Wishiwashi. But I didn’t get a good look at it, as it darted away, and a new one took its place. And another, and another. Soon, hordes of three and five and seven were all entering the portal at once, and I was too stunned to do anything.

People were screaming, I could hear them. More continued to appear from the portal, but none took notice of me. Instead they scattered throughout the vivarium, attacking anything and everything they could find. But I just stood there, mouth agape like an idiot, watching my worst nightmares come true for a second time. And worst of all: this time, it was my fault.

One took notice of me, one of the last through the gate. It approached, tentacles flaring, and I knew in my heart that I should be running or something, but instead I just stood there. Accepting my fate and my own stupidity.

But someone wouldn’t let me die. They grasped my shirt, pulling me over the railing before into the frigid water below. And there was something about that water, cold and bitter, that lit a fire inside me. My saviour began to pull me to shore, and I began to kick partway through. Soon, the two of us were on land, coughing the water from our lungs.

“T-thank you, Luso,” I murmured, placing a hand on his head. He punched me in the arm in retaliation.

“You do not give up like that!” He shouted, screaming the words into my ear. “You’re the king of this team, damn it!”

I nodded. “I won’t.” I glanced back at the main platform, where the portal was still open, singular creatures appearing from it now and again. The air, however, was filled with the creatures, and various Aether employees were battling off the monsters to various levels of success. I noted that Lusamine was no longer next to the portal.

“W-we need to get back up there,” I shouted, trying to steel my resolve. “Do you k-know where the rest are?” He shook his head.

We began moving in the direction of one of the nearest ramps up to the rest of the platforms. We passed by a group of Wooper, cowering from the creatures. Soon, the two of us were back up on the walkways, and the creatures began to swarm us.

“The rest should be up ahead!” Luso growled, sending one of the monsters flying with a powerful punch. “I’ll hold these ones off!”

“Luso, I—“

“Kaia!” he screamed, and he literally began to steam with anger. “Get the fuck out of here! I’ll be fine! And don’t look back!”

Taking a breath and ducking beneath a tentacle, I began to run, towards the portal. I hadn’t gotten far before I heard the sickening crunch of bone. And despite what he told me, I looked back.

Slam. Blood. Blood blood blood. Mangled limbs. I allowed myself three seconds, three seconds to panic, before I forced myself to steel. I needed to keep going. And so I took another deep breath, before continuing on my dash. I pushed passed an Aether employee, just as a monster grasped her by the arm, before tossing her over the ledge. I just closed my eyes and kept running. And then I found them.

They looked so peaceful in death. Their arms were even linked together, like some tragic love story that ended in death for the two lovers. Iro's limbs were at odd angles, and his head, with his puffy cheeks, was crooked, neck snapped during conflict with one of these creatures. Keyki looked more gruesome— her body was almost corroded, poison having seeped through her veins. These things were venomous, apparently. I stood, feeling my panic begin to set in again. Because of my stupid mistake, three of my pokemon were dead. I could—

“…Ka…?” The voice came from below me, and I looked down to see Keyki, eyes opening slowly. She began to shiver, pain clearly wreaking her body. But she was alive.

“It’s okay, Keyki. It’s alright.” I shushed, trying not the let my voice wobble. For her sake. “I’m gonna return you to your pokeball, alright?”

“I…ro?”

“He’s… he’s fine,” I replied, before sending her back into the pokeball. It was only a temporary solution, but a necessary one. I still needed to get her urgent care, ASAP. For my own sanity’s sake, I attempted to return Iro to his pokeball, but no dice.

He was gone.

But I continued. I was so close, I could end this. I just needed to make it to the—

A blast of water nearly knocked me off my feat, and I looked to see Lani and Tsuo, battling it out in the centre platform. Next to the portal. The destination. Tsuo was blasting fire from his hands, but he had several gashes and scrapes alongside his body. Lani looked stronger, but she seemed to be slowly being overrun by the creatures. They were blasting little shards of rock at the pair.

One hit Tsuo in the eye, knocking him down. Lani was left standing alone, fighting an unwinnable battle. I was running, running to her as fast as I could. One of the creatures launched a poison attack at her. “No, Lani! Look out!” She turned, noting the poison coming straight at her. “No, stop! STOP!”

And then the Key began to glow, and time seemed to slow to a crawl. Lani, moving faster than conceivably possible, blocked the attack, and was enveloped in a shimmering white light. She grew a good few feet taller, standing at approximately four feet, her pigtails turning into a long, flowing head of pink hair. Primarina. The Key stopped glowing, and where there had once been the Waterium Z, now was a similarly blue crystal, but with the head of a primarina craved into the front.

“NOW!” I commanded, screaming at the top of my lungs. The blue energy flowed into Lani, and she raised her head high. And then, she began to sing.

The water from below us rose from the ravines, floating into midair. As it did, the xenos were caught within the swirling vortex of water now hovering over our heads. Lani was still singing, a lilting aria that inspired me with a sense of hope. I raced passed her, towards the portal. As I made it there, I looked to Lani. With the rise of her voice, she commanded the water to move, and funnelled it into the portal. The water swept the remaining ultra beasts with it, pulling them into the vortex. Once the last one entered, I shoved my hand in, and with a spark of energy, the rift sealed once more.

We did it.

Lusamine betrayed us.

In an instant, I saw Hau race over to me, returning Tsuo to his pokeball. He grabbed my arm, begging me to run, and I did. Lani was exhausted, however, so I brought her back into her pokeball, too.

And then we began to run.

* * *

_“Aether Foundation President Lusamine Steele insinuates that last night’s alien attack on Aether Paradise was an act of terror. Ms. Steele, 41, points the blame towards three local teenagers, who she labels as ‘terrorists and troublemakers’: Kaia Stirling, the daughter of Julia Burnet, Lillie Moreau, and Gladion Darke. Bystanders are urged to report sightings of these teens to the police immediately, but are warned to avoid confrontation, as they may be armed and ready to strike again. More on this story, tonight at 11._


	28. interlude II

You don’t realize you’re drowning until the last of the air slips from your lungs.

You never learned to swim. In both your lives, you hadn’t had the time nor the patience. As of now, however, you wish you could. You are an elder, it would be natural for your life to end here. But you want to save her. Even if it meant your own life, you’d save her. But your mask is dragging you down. That damned mask, like a weight attached to your face. 

You breathe in, and water replaces the air. You cough, but that only makes things worse. You see her struggling, her grey fur swishing in the dark waters above. And then you see her stop. So young, but she’s gone. You feel a brief flash in your mind, as memories of the komala begin to flow back. Rescuing her from a pack of mightyena. Teaching her to battle. Watching her grow. Eva.

Your vision begins to fade to black, lungs now lousy with water. You try to think of something worthy in your final moments. Eva. She’s the one who pops into your head. But then she fades as you fade, and a new memory, with her soft blue fur and a quiet smile, fills your mind. The way she whispered in your ear when you were feeling overwhelmed. The way she always tried to follow your lead. The way she smiled.

And then you’re gone.

And it’s dark. And quiet. So, so quiet.

You can’t breathe. You don’t need to. But you feel like you’re slowly being compressed into the ground again, but as opposed to the weight of the earth hanging over you, there is only suffocating darkness.

You’re all alone.

But then, suddenly, you hear her. A new voice. She sounds so much like _him_ , but where his confidence was obvious, even in his voice, hers is quiet. Confused. Desperate. Her sadness is evident, even in the blackness in which you float. You feel her. You feel _for_ her. You haven’t felt anything for so long. Or has it been long? You aren’t even sure. She asks for a sign, and you want to show her. You reach out for her.

And then you’re back. Again. Here. Bright.

And there’s someone with you, among the tombstones. She is translucent. Incorporeal. Still, you see ice blue eyes plastered against yellow sclera near the top of her form. She may be a spirit, but she is a creature as well. A burst of cold passes over you, and you shiver instinctively. You had forgotten how it felt to feel cold.

“Uriah,” the spirit whispers, her form shifting slightly, “welcome back to the land of the living.”

***

Two tombstones, made of wood and stick, were stuck from the dirt, each formed in the shape of a cross. A third was placed slightly farther along, where the crashing of the ocean waves met the open sky. Where Flores had plummeted to her death.

Part of her thought that burying them would ease the aching pain that gripped her heart. Guilt? Regret? Or maybe just a plain old dose of sadness. Lani had been the one to suggest it, burying them back on Melemele Island. Gladion had been worried about being discovered, but Kaia had managed to sneak onto Route 2 with very little issue. She wasn’t sure why she picked this spot, exactly. Somehow, it felt poetic. So much had taken place in this one location, for both of the deceased, that it just felt right. Plus… it was almost like they were bringing the two of them closer to her spirit.

Each of her four remaining pokemon stood beside her. Keyki had been treated as best as she could, but the toxin had rooted itself too deep into her system. They had been too late. The majority of her leaves, still seared from the wounds she suffered, had now withered as well due to her poor health. She would live, but she would no longer be able to contribute to the team without significantly risking herself, even more so than usual.

So they were also here to return her home.

“Kaia,” the lilligant murmured, her voice cracking. “Would you say something? For him?”

She cleared her throat, caught momentarily off-guard. “Are you sure, Keyki? I don’t really…?”

“Please?” Kaia was immediately struck by the desperation in her voice. “I… please.”

After a moment, she nodded, before turning her attention back to the grave. “I… Iro was… He was a good pokemon. I had known many different versions of Iro: the one who sought ‘defend my honour’. The one who lost a friend, and was so deeply affected by it that he lashed out at his friends. The one who overcame the negative nature of his species to do something truly wonderful. The one who found love.” She noticed Keyki flinch at the word, and began to backpedal. “Either way, no one can deny that he was good. He always wanted to do the right thing, and I suppose, according to him, that meant giving up his life for us. The survivors.” She exhaled. “Thank you, Iro.”

She knew that now was an appropriate time to cry— two creatures put under her watch had perished, due to her own stupidity. But yet… she couldn’t bring herself to tears. She couldn’t even really… feel it. Feel anything besides chains, tied to her and weighing her down.

After a moment of silence, Lani spoke, saying, “…Should we say something about Luso, then?” Her soft voice and lilting syllables continually caused Kaia a moment’s pause.

A tense silence filled the air, causing Kaia to clear her throat. “Um, Luso was… he was very helpful when he wanted to be. Even when that help wasn’t exactly want—“

“No.” Gabrielle’s voice cut through hers, and she turned to look at her. She roosted on Soren’s back, staring down at the two graves in front of us. “I hate to be the dissenting opinion,” she said, turning to stare Kaia down. “But why are we mourning this asshole? I don’t exactly get the sentimentality behind a burial like this, but at least with Iro, he was a decent friend.” She flapped her wings in frustration, causing dirt to spray out towards the cliffside. “This _jerk_ verbally, and occasionally physically,” she glanced down at Soren pointedly, “abused us and we’re supposed to give him a loving farewell speech?”

“It’s called respecting the dead,” Lani muttered in retort, looking away from the bird. “Not that you know much about respect.”

“Why should we respect the dead?” Gabrielle replied, anger dipping into her voice. “If someone is an asshole and then gets themselves killed, we shouldn’t give them our respect, just for dying.”

“Can anyone really claim to know Luso, though?” Soren inserted himself into the conversation. “Sure, he wasn’t nice to us, but maybe he had feelings or thoughts that he never let show. Or something along those lines. We can’t claim to know him, so maybe he—“

“Don’t be stupid, Soren.” Gabrielle’s voice was as searing as the fire she wielded. “He was an asshole. End of story.”

“Why be so close-minded?” His voice was rising in turn, passion soaking into his words as he spoke them. “Just because you’re--”

“She’s right,” Keyki croaked, casting a veil of silence among the arguers. The withered lilligant had an air of tiredness to her. She had been a bright-eyed, idealistic young petilil once. But that was before she met Kaia. “I had no real feelings on Luso. But the fact that we’ve spent so long discussing his achievements and neglecting Iro proves to me that he doesn’t deserve to hold the same honour as Iro does. Did.”

“He died to save Kaia!” The trainer flinched at Soren’s words. He didn’t mean it like that… she knew that. But it still stung. “He died in the same way that Iro died, the same way you got injured, and that’s worthy of respect!”

“Well, that’s not how the fucking world works, Soren!” she shouted in response, the very action seeming to deflate the wind from her sails. “People - pokemon - can be bastards. And we’re all gonna die someday. And guess what? Bastards are bastards, even in the afterlife. Sorry to shatter that expectation for you.”

“...I’m gonna go for a little flight.” With that, Gabrielle began to flap her wings, encasing herself in the air. Soon, her red and black form was out of sight, but not out of mind.

Kaia was gripping at her right arm, clutching at the faded silver scars of her fight against the Totem Salazzle. “That’s enough. I’m gonna go walk Keyki back home now. Alright? Please don’t fight about this anymore. Pay your respects, don’t, whichever.” With that, she turned in with definitive swivel, striding away from the cliff. 

After a moment, Keyki turned and began to hobble after her.

***

The yellow fields of the Melemele Meadow struck Kaia still for a moment. There was a soft sway to the flowers, as a caressing breeze billowed through the small field. In the corner of her eye, she could see a group of ribombee milling about the flowers, and her heart panged. There was a distinct smell to the place, one she hadn’t noticed on her first trip. It was soothing - she was instantly at ease - but at the same time, there was a sadness to it.

“Kaia,” Keyki spoke, disrupting her thoughts, “thank you for bringing me all this way, but I think it’s better if I go on alone from here.” The lilligant stood out among the vibrant yellow flowers. Her brownish-green leaves, her withered appearance… it all stood contrast to the livelihood of the world around her.

“Oh… I thought--” 

“I know,” she continued, folding her hands together, “and I appreciate the thought. But it’s better if we part ways here.”

Kaia wasn’t sure what she wanted to say. She had been combing her brain for something - _anything_ \- to make the aching pain in her heart go away. Blind reassurances wouldn’t help Keyki, she knew that but… 

Her knees hit the dirt before her mind caught up. The cool, moist earth met her with a _splat_ , sending a shiver up her body. She wrapped her arms around Keyki. “I’m sorry, Keyki.”

The gesture took the lilligant by surprise. “What? I thought I told you, it’s--”

“No. Just let me talk for a minute. Please?” When the pokemon didn’t respond, Kaia continued. “I’m sorry for hurting you. I’m sorry for getting Iro killed.” Her voice wavered, and her eyes began to leak. “I’m not a good trainer, Keyki. The amount of death I’ve seen proves it, y’know? So I’m sorry for constantly putting your life in danger and forcing you into my problems. It was wrong--”

“Kaia.” The lilligant’s words stopped the trainer in her tracks, and she felt the lilligant wrap her arms around her, returning the gesture. “Don’t you see? We all asked to be here. None of us would be around if we didn’t believe in you. Literally, in Gabrielle’s case,” she chuckled at the name, “because good people make mistakes too. I’m just… sorry I won’t be able to see it through to the end.”

She shook her head vigorously, wiping the tears away with her arm. “No! Please, don’t. You’ve done so much right for me… Please, just…”

“It’s okay, Kaia.” She smiled. “You don’t have to hide it from me.”

***

Gabrielle didn’t like to think about death anymore.

It was an odd change to her. In the wild, where the competition is fierce, death was a natural part of life. Even among the oricorio, a fairly peaceful species, it wasn’t unlikely to come home and find that your friend passed on thanks to a wild trumbeak. But it was never a big issue. It was a fact of life. 

Lani and Soren didn’t understand that. They were _humanborn_.

Her talons hit the hard dirt of the mountain range. It was her first time on Melemele Island’s… humans called this Route 3. Actually, it was her first time off of Akala Island in general. A new experience. Just like that strange artificial island was a new experience. Two moons ago, she wouldn’t have imagined something like this. Not without Kaia’s help.

“...Gabrielle is…” The use of her human-given name caught Gabrielle’s attention, even though the speaker was far away. Out of curiosity, she made her way towards the source of the voice. Hopping through several layers of foliage, she found herself back on the cliff, staring at the backs of Soren and Lani. They were deep in conversation, so she decided to hang back for a while.

“...worry too much, Soren,” Lani was in the midst of saying, her voice still harnessing that fleck of disdain that made Gabrielle’s skin crawl in frustration, “I’m sure she understands.”

“No, she definitely hates me now. She had that look of betrayal on her face as she flew off.” It didn’t take a genius to realize they were talking about her. The umbreon’s head was down.

“I would try not to worry,” the primarina replied, a small frown crossing her face, “she was the one who started the conflict. Besides, you should be allowed to stand up for what you believe in. If she doesn’t understand that, then--”

“It’s more than that!” he barked, a sudden change in tone that shocked even Gabrielle. “I… I care about her. A lot. And it’s hard for me to… hurt her like that.”

Care?

A look of realization crossed Lani’s face. “O-oh. Oh!” An awkward chuckle. “Well, uh… that’s understandable, I suppose. Although if you don’t mind me asking…” She paused, clearly attempting to figure out how to phrase what came next. “Why?”

Gabrielle bristled, but Soren seemed to interpret the question differently. He shifted his head away from the ground, towards the glittering sea. “Y’know… it’s all the little things. How she shuffles when she’s feeling cool, but pretends like she’s fine. The awkward clucking noise she makes when she’s feeling vulnerable. The way she dances, like the world isn’t around her.” He looked towards the sky. “I… I love her, I think.”

She was attempting to process the information. She hadn’t realized that Soren’s feelings towards her were so… intense. She had picked up on some of it, sure, but…

“...Wow.” Lani spoke after a moment, inhaling deeply. “Well, I can’t say I exactly understand, though I’m going through something similar myself… good for you, Soren. Are you going to tell her?”

Soren ignored the question, turning his head towards the water-type. “You’re in love with someone, Lani? Who?”

She shook her head in response. “That’s-- it’s-- it’s not important, Soren,” she said, she voice sputtering. The moon dog chuckled in response, and she joined in a few moments later.

With that, Gabrielle made her approach. She hopped her way out of the foliage, and Soren turned to look at her as she did so. His eyes widened, causing Lani to look her way too. Gabrielle cleared her throat, letting a few clucks loose. “So, um… I just wanted to apologize to the two of you. I still believe in what I was saying, but I… could have said it better. And I’m sorry.”

Lani seemed to be most surprised by this development, her head tilting to one side. Soren, meanwhile, had an unidentifiable look in his eye. “That’s… it’s alright, Gabrielle,” Lani said after a moment, turning away from her, “I’m sorry I got heated, too.”

The bird nodded, before clucking twice more. “Lani, would you… mind if I speak to Soren? Alone?” The dog and the singer shared a look, and Gabrielle could tell that all three of them knew what she wished to discuss. Still, to her credit, Lani nodded and shuffled away (using her fancy new water powers, no less) from the two of them without a word.

They shared an awkward silence. Gabrielle knew she had been the one to ask for a moment alone, but she… couldn’t figure out how to begin. Finally, she inhaled and began to speak. “Soren, do you know how we oricorio find mates?”

“Oh Arceus,” the dog groaned, his tail folding between his legs, “Look, Gabrielle, I’m sorry that--”

“Please let me finish,” she said, and he grew quiet. “Oricorio mating rituals are strange. Loveless. Within any given tribe, there are numerous ‘families’, so to speak, which consist of one male and up to five females. Each female produces a batch of one to three eggs, which are then fertilized and hatches into additional females or, rarely, a male.” She began to cluck again, before catching herself. “It is rare for any of the fledgelings to have a close relationship with their fathers. Or hell, even their siblings. My only true relationship before I met you was with my mother. In that way, you’re sort of… my first real friend.”

“Oh.”

“So I… don’t know how I feel about you exactly. I’ve never really… felt the same thing you’re talking about, I don’t think. So I… I don’t know.” She finished. She wasn’t exactly sure what the point of the conversation was, considering her ambiguous statement, but it helped to get it all out there. He nodded, still unable to make eye contact with her. They sat in silence again. “Oh, I had another question… would you be willing to train me to fight?”

He blinked, finally looking in her direction. “I thought you weren’t a fan of fighting?”

She shuffled, adjusting her feathers with her beak. “Well, I figure that if I’m sticking around, I may as well attempt to be useful…” She looked up at him and was warmed to see the pride shining in his eyes.

“Guys?” Lani’s voice interrupted the two of them, and they turned to see her approaching them, though there was another figure behind her. “Sorry to interrupt, but there’s someone you should meet.

It shook the ground as it walked, cream coloured body standing out in contrast against the dark grey of the growth along its quadrupedal legs and back. Its face, however, was the most intriguing part about it. A large, wall-like mask covered the front of this creature’s face.

“Hello,” it (he?) said, its voice was almost obscured by the mask, causing it to sound nearly artificial, “the name is Uriah. I am looking for the one called Kaia?”

***

“Sorry, what?” Kaia tried to make her words sound less surprised, but judging by the bastiodon’s flinch, she failed in that regard. “You want to… come with me?”

The ancient pokemon nodded. “It is my life’s calling, to help you on your journey. Plus…” The air around them began to chill, causing Kaia to rub her arms subconsciously. Uriah seemed momentarily perturbed by the cold.

“Don’t forget me, Rockbrain.” The voice was disembodied-- Kaia couldn’t pick up the source, and yet it felt like the speaker was standing beside her. With that, a spectral form appeared above the bastiodon. “I offered to help, too.”

He sighed. “Yes, and if you help me, Lilac--”

“ _Miss_ Lilac!”

“ _Miss_ Lilac,” he corrected, eyes rolling partially, “would be happy to help as well.”

“Well, ‘happy’. More like obligated.”

Kaia had no clue what the hell was happening. One moment, she was walking back from her departure, the next, she was ambushed by her pokemon and the two newcomers-- Uriah and Lilac? She had no clue how a bastiodon was simply wandering in the wild, nor why a ghost would wish to help them. Still, if she was going to fight Lusamine…

She sighed. “Alright. If you guys wish to come along, that’s fine. I don’t even really need an explanation, though I do find you both to be quite the weirdos. But I’m the trainer, so you’ll need to listen to my commands.”

The prehistoric pokemon gave another nod. “That is acceptable to me. I am here to aid you, and if training under you is the best way to do so, then so be it.”

“Yeah, that’s…” She was trying her best to keep her cool. “That’s not exactly reassuring.”

Above him, a set of incorporeal teeth appeared among the chilly white shape, directly beneath the pure yellow eyes. “I like you already! Gonna have to come up with a fun nickname for you, though.”

Kaia looked to Lani, who was giving her an empathetic smile. She sighed, gripping her arm again. “Alright then. Let’s head back to the boat. Gladion’ll be pissed that we wasted this much time already.”


	29. twenty-seven: aftermath

_seamless needlework  
_ _tailoring the perfect trim  
_ _i've got so much work to do  
_ _where on earth do i begin?_

 

As she awoke from her slumber, she felt as though she were awakening from death itself. Her sense of time was immediately skewed. Moreover, she had no clue where the hell she was.

Briefly, she recalled Brooklet Hill, with its flowing waters and pooling streams. But where the location of a trial had lush greenery surrounding the hill, this place had none. Instead, its pristine white sand contrasted the dark blue of the water. There was a lone tree, leaves nearly entirely shed, but aside from that, no vegetation at all. The horizon seemed to stretch out in all directions, endless. Just water…

Memories came flooding into her brain, all at once. A war— transformation… sacrifice? She gripped her head, attempting to cease the pounding of her brain against the thick walls of her skull. For a moment, her vision blurred around her, as though reality itself were ejecting her. But then it settled, and she was there again. Here.

“Sins of the father, eh?” A voice rang out, quiet yet soothing. She turned, taking note of the woman sitting behind her. She had not been there before. The woman wore a cloak, her head hanging low. She looked up, revealing long grey hair and a wrinkled face. A kind smile plastered delicately on her features.

“I’m sorry?” the girl asked, shifting from the ground. She felt a pain shoot down her spine, before it disappeared in a flash.

The elderly woman sighed, folding her arms close to herself. “The burdens of the previous generation are passed onto the current. My failings…” Her hand shook slightly, before clenching into a fist. “My failings have caused you such pain. Have caused the people of Alola such pain. I’m sorry.”

“Wh—“ A question danced on the girl’s tongue, but it faded and was simply replaced with awe.

Still, the woman seemed to sense the question anyway. Her soft smile was unfaltering, accompanied by a small chuckle. “I’m honestly uncertain as to what your people would call me nowadays, Faélan. I have been known by many names throughout the years: Moonmother, Riftsealer, The Beast that Calls the Moone. But there was one name, before all the rest: _Lunala_.” There was a power to the name, one that rocked the girl to her core.

“Lunala,” the girl breathed.

The woman nodded. Her eyes grew teary, and it took her a moment to wipe them away. “I was just like you, once.” Her voice was wispy and faint, and she stared past the girl for a moment, at something on the horizon. “One day…” When the girl followed her gaze, she saw nothing.

A faint breeze tickled back of her neck, shaking her from her stupor. She ran a hand through her hair. “Am I going to remember any of this when I wake up?”

She laughed, a delightful little noise that was reminiscent of a bell chiming. “Who says you’re asleep?” she whispered, chuckling again after seeing the stunned look return to the girl’s face. The woman patted the sand beside her. “Now sit down,” she murmured, closing her eyes once more.

“I need you to ask you a favour.”

* * *

A bang on the metallic door shook me from my slumber. My nose was immediately assaulted by the overbearing smell of sea salt, forcing my eyes open. The dark of the cabin was illuminated by the soft white light of the moon, revealing the cramped quarters and low ceiling. A pile of dirty laundry was collected in the far corner of the room, overflowing from the basket.

“Kaia!” A gruff voice was muffled from the other side of the door. “Let’s go. We’re meeting in the command centre in ten.” Thumping, grumpy footsteps echoed in the hallway as he left.

After a moment, I pulled my head up from the bed, letting out an audible groan as I did so. I could feel nausea bubbling in my throat. I muttered brief thanks to Arceus for blessing this room with no mirrors, as I probably looked like a fucking mess. Dragging myself from the bed, I slithered towards my bag, tossing on some loose-fitting shorts and a hoodie. Early mornings on the ship were fairly cold, even for Alola.

I stepped into the hall, rubbing my eyes fully open. The lights along the side of the metallic, Aether-esque floors cast a dull white on jet-black walls. To the left and right, stairs led up to the small yacht’s deck. I shuffled off to the bathroom, toothbrush and hairbrush in hand.

After making myself semi-presentable, I found myself trudging up the stairs. Five minutes late, as always, but I wasn’t exactly sure what Gladion expected at this point.

The yacht itself was roughly 55 meters long, with three major decks. The lowest was indoors, filled with small cabins and beds. The upper deck had the majority of the boat’s equipment and other such things. This left the middle floor, or the ‘command centre’ as Gladion (a huge dork, I had learned) preferred to call it, was left as a meeting/living room.

I pulled myself up onto the deck, sighing contentedly as the soothing smell of coffee hit my nose. The gang had gathered, each looking colder than the next. Lillie was huddled in a fluffy blanket on a couch, her hair down and soaking wet. Nebby was in the girl’s lap, her two appendages curled around her body like a blanket. She had been sleeping uncharacteristically often as of late. Huddled next to them was Hau, his dark hair ruffled and unwashed. Glad was near the coffee machine, stirring a spoon in his mug, his ever-present look of disdain making it seem as though he was very disappointed in the drink. To his left, Indigo was staring at the television, which was flashing some form of a news report.

“You’re late,” Gladion said, his voice harsh as per usual. “I said ten minutes.”

“And I said,” I responded cleverly, “Fuck off.”

As I planted my rear on the couch opposite to Lillie and Hau, the sound from the television broadcast filtered into my ear. “...as of two weeks after the attack, the current leading theory is...” I rolled my eyes, tuning out again. The media had been playing up the attack for weeks, desperate to get those juicy ratings, I suppose. It was only when a familiar gruff voice began to speak that my attention returned.

“I don’t think we should focus on the why, Helena,” Hala muttered, “The fact is, this is a global tragedy, and it isn’t even an isolated incident anymore. We should be attempting to unite together as a region and as a community, not guarding our backs and sowing discord and distrust among ourselves.” The kahuna looked completely out of place in the TV studio, his sun-touched skin and ragged clothes contrasting against the posh white fabric of the seat he was in. Olivia and Nanu sat next to him, their faces solemn. Across from the three of them, the hostess, Helena Monterey, had the most obnoxious concern plastered on her face, one that screamed fake to me. It only took a brief glance at Hau to tell that he was soaking in every word.

The hostess nodded, pausing dramatically. After a moment, she turned back to Hala. “Kahuna Hala, your grandson is one of the suspected casualties, correct?” Hau paled, and Lillie froze up next to him. “This must be very difficult for you. We very much appreciate you being here today.”

Hala looked displeased, but he still nodded. “I have faith in my grandson. Hope is all we have at this point, and we shouldn’t be so eager to give it up.”

There was silence for a moment. Helena seemed on the verge of saying something, but couldn’t bring herself to. Finally, she spat out, “Do you think your son may have been a target due to his friendship with Stirling?” I tried to prevent my eyes from rolling out of my head.

Olivia spoke up immediately, her face twisting in range. “Too far, Monterey,” the kahuna spat, turning her head. “I’m sure Hala’s grandson is fine. And I still don’t believe this theory--”

“Olivia--” Hala attempted to intervene, but she continued on.

“That Kaia did it. I talked to her not a week before the attack. I know a killer,” she muttered, crossing her arms, “and she isn’t one.” My heart warmed for a moment, seeing Olivia go to bat for me. It was ultimately pointless, everyone had already made up their minds about me (plus they weren’t entirely wrong), but it’s the thought that counts.

The hostess seemed stunned at Olivia’s outburst, but she recovered fast. “That seems like a segway into a recap of our working theory if I have ever seen one!” She laughed, a high-pitched noise that made me shiver so hard, my future grandchildren would feel it. “Dozens of eyewitness reports seeing the girl summon the creatures,” who didn’t understand the full context of what I was doing, “a testimony from Lusamine Steele herself, reflecting Stirling’s poor mental state,” who was a lying bitch, “and Stirling being in the location of the attack in both instan--”

“Can we turn off the TV?” Lillie asked suddenly, shaking the stupor that had drifted over our little pity-party. “We can always catch it again later if we really need to, they’ve been broadcasting it non-stop for the past two days.” Indigo took a moment, before nodding and grabbing the remote. The TV flicked off, and the five us sat in darkness for a few moments.

Eventually, Gladion cleared his throat, taking a seat at the kitchen counter. “Well. We need to decide what we’re going to do. We can’t just wait for Kaia’s bird to flutter her way back here.”

“I, um…” Lillie started, shifting away from Hau, “I ha--”

“We need to wait for instructions,” Hau spoke, an uncharacteristic scowl coming over his face as he addressed Gladion, “Anabel will know what we need to do.”

“Sorry, sorry, but,” I inwardly cringed as Gladion’s tone grew angry, “why are you even here? It’s not like you’re stuck with the rest of us.”

“Uh...” Hau removed the blanket that was draped over his lap, standing. He was shorter than Gladion, but the scowl on his face, so unlike him, made him doubly intimidating. “Because my friends are in danger? Plus, it’s not like _she_ ,” he gestured to Indigo, “needs to be here either.”

“At least she can actually help by getting groceries and shit!” Gladion growled, fully in Hau’s face. Lillie was looking increasingly alarmed, and she kept opening her mouth to speak, but couldn’t seem to produce words. “You’re just… here. I helped you because you’re one of Lillie’s pals, but you’re just a fucking pain in my ass.” He turned to his fellow Skull member. “Right?”

“Woah, don’t bring me into this.” Indigo stepped away, her arms crossing. “I’m not here to get in the middle of your dick-measuring contest.”

“I, um,” Lillie was still struggling to speak, “I think we--”

“I made a _choice_ to be here,” Hau muttered, clenching his fists, “and I know that Anabel will help. We just need to wait.”

“Mother is mobilizing and you think that _waiting_ is the be--”

“Uuuum!” Lillie stood from her seat, Nebby still in her arms. There was a look of surprising determination on her face, one that I hadn’t seen emerging. “Guys! Can I, um… talk please?” The looks on their faces were priceless.

A moment passed before I let loose a small cough. “Go for it, Lil.”

“Um…” She glanced around at each of us, before casting her eyes downward and scratching her nails. “Actually, Kaia, do you mind if I speak to you alone for a second?”

I nodded, standing from my seat. “Sure,” I murmured, turning to Gladion. “Try not to kill each other, okay?”

* * *

We made our way to the bow of the ship, leaving our allies to sit in silence. The moon was just beginning to rise, the dark sky finally beginning to shift from black to a beautiful dark blue. The sea was calm, mostly thanks to the bay we had anchored in for the time being (Kala’e Bay, a small hidden area only accessible by weaving through several large rock formations on northern side of Melemele, opposite of Hau’oli), but there was still a gentle rock to the boat, as gusts of wind shifted the tides ever so slightly.

Our pokemon were all out of their pokeball, roaming the ship or the water to their hearts’ content. I knew that Lani, in particular, had been enjoying the time off. Her smile had finally returned, the one that I hadn’t really seen since Ranger had passed on. Gabrielle had departed a week prior, searching for Anabel or Nanu. We had no real idea when she would return, but she seemed… eager to help, almost. Which was a switch.

“So, um, last night…” Lillie started, staring at the moon as it descended beneath the horizon. “I had a dream.”

“A dream?” A stray breeze hit the back of my head, sending a cascade of shivers down my body.

She nodded. “Yeah. I… at least, I think that’s what it was. Have you ever had a dream… that feels so real, but at the same time, you know it can’t be?”

The hair on my arms crawled. “W-why?” Was Lillie having dreams? Like mine? I had assumed that they were related to my status as a Faller, but Lillie wasn’t one… right?

She sighed, folding inwards on herself. “I guess that’s a dumb thing to say. Sorry.”

My thumbnail went to my teeth, and I began to nash on it with vigour. “No, you’re… you’re fine. What happened?”

She scrunched her face, before rubbing her eyes. “It’s… in bits and pieces. But I know that we need to go to the Malie Public Library and find a book called ‘The Incursion: Alola’s Forgotten History’. Someone… told me that.” Her eyes drifted to the moon again. “They specified that I need to bring you. But… that’s crazy, right? I don’t know how we’d get Gladion to go for it.”

“Malie Library,” I said, taking in a breath. “The extremely popular library. In the middle of one of the densest cities in Alola. As fugitives. That’ll go over great.”

“So you see the problem, then.” She tapped her chin before pushing some stray hair away from her face. “But it’s important that we get there, I know that. So we’re gonna have to convince the guys somehow.”

“I might be able to help there.” I flinched at the sudden intrusion of the voice, before I recognized it as Gabrielle’s jaded voice. The confusion returned when, as opposed to her glorious red plumage, I saw a fluffy, purple bird sitting nearby, preening and carrying an inconspicuous package, brown with no discernable markings.

“Mew, you spooked me,” I murmured. Lillie looked at me in confusion, before following my gaze towards the bird. Her shoulders folded once she made eye-contact.

“Yeah well, I showed up last night but the only one around was the ghost.” She rolled her eyes, before continuing. “Either way, I made contact with Anabel, and she wanted me to give you this.” She shoved the package to the ground, before continuing her preening.

I reached for the package, collecting it off the wooden planks. “What’s inside?”

“I didn’t ask.” She glared at me. “But _boy_ , it _sure_ would be tough to find out.”

Scoffing, I tore into the dull brown paper, revealing a strange black device. It had a couple of buttons along the side and a long point on the top and a knob on the other side, but I couldn’t actually figure out what it did. Out of curiosity, I flipped the knob, and a static began to screech through the device.

“Hello?” A voice, muffled and unrecognizable, spoke from within the machine. I looked at Lillie, who stared back, biting her lip as she took in the strange contraption. “Kaia, it’s me, Anabel. I heard you turn the knob on.”

After a moment, Lillie cleared her throat, before speaking softly, “Um, Anabel? This is Lillie… Hello.”

No response, until a groan echoed through the device. “Ugh, Kaia, you have to press the button on the side to talk,” she said, before trailing off and speaking to herself as an aside, saying, “ _Kids… Don’t know what a stupid walkie talkie is._ ”

Finding the button she was referring to, I held it down and repeated what Lillie had said into the microphone. “Kaia! Good to hear from you. I was both frustrated yet proud that you guys were smart enough to throw your phones away.” Indigo’s idea. We tossed em into the sea as soon as we escaped from Aether. “Are you guys alright? Your oricorio mentioned vaguely that you four were alive, but she wouldn’t give me any details.”

“We’re okay!” I responded, taking a seat next to Lillie. “What’s going on over there?”

“Everyone is in a panic. There are… the cities are a mess, Kaia. People screaming doomsday prophecies, mass looting and lawbreaking… people are convinced that this is the end of days.” She paused for a moment, before continuing, “Gabrielle said that you met up with Gladion and Indigo?”

“Yes,” I looked to Lillie, who seemed as confused as I was, “plus Lillie and Hau. Why?”

“I’m nervous about the three of you being in one area. My current theory is that these creatures are… attracted to Fallers, for whatever reason, and the more of you clumped in one area, the more danger you’re in.” It took a while to adjust to the idea that Indigo was a Faller as well. She had briefly hinted it when I had last seen her, but that didn’t make it any less shocking. “...That reminds me, I have someone who needs to meet with you. Is there any safe place where you guys would be comfortable meeting?”

I looked to Lillie, who responded with a shrug. “I dunno… Who needs to speak with me?”

“Your stepdad.” I didn’t do a good enough job masking my wince, as she chuckled immediately after. “Don’t worry. I promise it’ll be awkward as hell, but it is relevant and something you guys need to hear. So…? Is there any place?”

I looked to Lillie, who bit her knuckle for a moment, before a flash of something popped into her eyes. “Hi, Anabel? Lillie here. Would you guys be willing to meet in or near the Malie Library?” Judging by Anabel’s silence, she had the same reaction I did. “It’s very important.”

“Lillie… I’m sure you have your reasons, but I would really recommend staying away from Ula’ula at this point in time. It’s mass hysteria over there, not to mention the two of you are wanted fugitives.”

“Please,” she murmured into the microphone, before scratching her ankle. “It’s very, very important.”

Anabel sighed after another moment of silence. “Fine, I’ll…” She murmured something unintelligible to someone nearby. “Do you know the Hokulani observatory? It’s a quick bus ride up Mount Hokulani. It used to be the location of a trial before the trial was moved to the Malie Recycling Plant. Either way, it’s relevant to the discussion Kukui needs to have, plus it’s close enough that the inconspicuous members of your little group can head to the library.”

“Mhmm.” I shifted out of my seat, slowly making my way back towards the rest of the group. Lillie followed suit, taking a moment to grab a hairband off her wrist and do her hair up. “It’ll take us approximately two days to get to Malie,” I continued, struggling to keep the button held down. “See you… two… then?”

“Sounds like a plan. Also, Kaia?”

“Yeah?”

“Check the rest of the package.” Confused, I jammed my fingers into the remains of the package, revealing a small pink disk. “I assume you have seen a Technical Machine before?”

* * *

A knock. “Excuse me, Miss Steele?”

The noise caused her to flinch, pricking her finger with the needle. Lusamine looked up from her sewing table, scrunching her nose at the door. “Yes, can I help you?” She looked back down, frowning at the small stream of blood coming from her thumb.

The voice was muffled by the intricate oak. “We have news on the fugitives. May I come in?”

Breathing, she murmured something in the affirmative, before turning back to her table. The door drew open, and a young woman wobbled in, dressed stylishly in a lab coat and glasses. She was very plain-looking, Lusamine decided, with mousy-brown hair and a demeanour that almost screamed the attention away from her. The president wasn’t a fan. Briefly, she wondered how the woman had managed to get onto such a secretive project, but it wasn’t worth pursuing... for now.

The scientist gulped, looking down at her clipboard. “Um, I, um… They’re headed to the Malie Library. Dr. Faba initially re-recommended that we send an Aether presence to round them up, but the situation in Malie City is… well, it is dire. I think we would do better with a Sk--”

“Yes yes, very well. I agree, we would be pushed to violence if we sent an Aether squad to collect them, and we _must_ uphold our reputation, no matter the cost.” She picked her needle back up, before diving back into the act of sewing. It was a beautiful white fabric. “Inform Mr. Guzma, and tell him he can use the weapon, as we discussed. But please, remind him…” She moved her head back up again. “To use restraint?”

The scientist nodded, pushing up her glasses and shifting backwards. “O-of course, Ma’am! Thank you!” An echoing boom as the doors slammed shut, the woman already out of sight.

Lusamine continued her project for a few more minutes in silence. The textile arts were not something to be rushed, in her humble opinion. Sure, it had been made easier in recent centuries with the invention of the sewing machine, but coming from a long line of seamstresses, it just didn’t feel right. No, she much preferred the pleasant feeling that came from guiding a needle with your own hands. In control.

After a good half an hour, she sat up from her table, smiling down at her work-in-progress. She swiftly pushed the button on the desk beside her. “Wicke? Are you available?”

The other woman’s voice range through the speaker. “Miss President? How may I help you?” A difficult question, one with many possible answers. Wicke would have a role to play before it was all over.

“Would you put William on the line for me?” she commanded, looking back down at her handiwork. “There is something I need to discuss with him.”


	30. twenty-eight: apologies

_i keep falling, i keep falling down  
_ _if you could only save me  
_ _i'm drowning in the waters of my soul_

 

I moved my hand to cover my eyes as a blast of dirt whipped towards my face.

The wind had been relentless for the entire afternoon, which, according to Indigo, was pretty much the norm for Ula’ula. Unfortunately, that meant that standing on a road composed of loose soil wasn’t a pleasant experience.

“So…” Gabrielle, roosting on Soren’s back in typical Gabrielle fashion, looked down the beaten path, eyes narrowed. “Is this bus like… showing up at some point? Ever?”

I shrugged, running a hand through my hair. It was already growing back to its original length in the few weeks we were on Gladion’s boat, now hanging just above my shoulders. “Hau looked it up and said it would be here at one.” I leaned against the bench, causing it to creak loudly. “Could be a delay or something.”

“Can’t you check?”

“Tossed my phone, remember?” I fiddled with the walkie-talkie in my hands, opening and closing the antenna. “Only way we could find out is if we radio the others, but…” They were sneaking around Malie City, it probably wouldn’t make sense to bring attention to them.

“Ugh, whatever.” Soren turned his head to look back at her, yellow eyes making contact with hers. She looked at him curiously, before fluttering her wings in surprise. “Oh!” She turned back to me, eyes pointed directly at my shoes. “I mean, um… thanks anyway.”

I wasn’t used to seeing Gabrielle like this. Unlike the red form, which conjured up an image of fierceness and passion, her purple feathers made her seem almost… sad. Even beyond the physical form change, she had been acting strangely ever since she returned from her trip. I might have to discuss it with Anabel.

“Why the rush?” Lani, who was lounging behind the bench (she had tried to get into my lap, and was extremely frustrated when I had to explain to her why that wouldn’t work anymore), spoke in a hushed tone. “Lillie and Hau most likely haven’t even made it to the library yet, let alone found the book.

A sigh left my throat involuntarily. “I guess… I’m just nervous, y’know?” I ran a hand through my hair again. “It’s gonna be weird. Seeing Kukui and Anabel again. Especially Kukui.”

“I’m assuming you two aren’t on good terms?” Uriah asked, eyes meeting mine from his seat beside the bench. “Sorry, I don’t think you’ve actually explained your relationship with these people to me.”

“Oooh, they’re probably ex-lovers!” A shiver went up my spine as Lilac made her presence known. She often spent her time within the shadows of Uriah or me, as it was difficult for ghost Pokemon to manifest their physical forms in broad daylight. “They probably spent several passionate months together before realizing they were just too different.” A chuckle rang in my ears. Ugh, ghosts. “Human romance is so simple and cruel that way.”

Eyes rolling, I explained that he was my stepfather. “And yeah, we aren’t exactly on the best of terms. I kinda… hated him.”

“Hated?” Uriah asked, “as in, past tense?”

“I… dunno.”

We sat in silence for what felt like ions, awkwardness looming on my shoulders like a weight. It felt odd, to drag my pokemon into my family drama. At least it was only Kukui. If it were my mom I was going to meet, I would devolve into a full-blown panic attack.

Finally, just when the silence had become overbearing, a noise broke through, barely loud enough to catch my attention. Down the road, a vehicle was approaching. The first thing I noticed was the severe damage to the front — the entire bumper was smashed inwards, as though the vehicle had just finished hitting a tree. It was relatively small, dark in colour with a glimmering silver bumper, though the bumper was rusted over.

“Um…” Gabrielle spoke, noticing the approaching car at the same time as I did, “who the fuck is that?” Whoever it was had decided that ripping down a dirt road at an easy 100 kilometres was a fantastic idea. Already, I could see the trail of dust they were leaving behind them.

“Not to alarm anyone,” Uriah grumbled, standing from his position on the ground, “but we’re about to get sprayed.”

And we would have been, if not for the driver slamming on their brakes a good twenty feet from us. By the time the car had shuddered to a stop, a storm of dust had culminated behind it, thankfully just missing us. Out of habit, I braced myself for a battle - I had no clue what this guy wanted or who he was working with, and I wasn’t about to go down without a fight. Soren, perhaps as a result of the TM he had recently been learning from, stood up in sync with me.

A figure emerged from the car door, which swung open with a loud creak. “Hiya, Kaia!” Indigo’s face, a big smile plastered on, revealed itself as she stepped from the dust storm.

“Indigo?” I approached, trying to avoid my surprise translating onto my face. “What are you doing here? I thought you were with Gladion?” As the dust settled, I moved my hand to rest on the car. “And where did this thing come from?”

She chuckled, a hard sound that reflected her years with Team Skull. “Yeah, he decided to follow Hau and Lillie instead. Dude is really protective of his sister for someone who abandoned her for years. As for this baby,” She slapped the hood of the car. “I grew up on Ula’ula. Not to mention my connections to Team Skull. I know where to get a car. Besides, after we saw the bulletin that they were closing the bus service due to the chaos in the city, I figured you could use a lift.”

I sighed, relieved. “Thanks. I was worried we’d be waiting out here forever.”

She looked towards my pokemon, who were still in ready position back by the bench. “You know I love your little guys, but I don’t think we’ll have room for them in the car.”

I shook my head. “That’s fine.” When my eye caught Gabrielle’s, I continued, “Is Gabby okay? I don’t have—“

“A pokeball for her, right,” Indigo finished, grinning before she nodded. “That’s fine! She’ll just have to sit on your lap.” Sitting back down in the leather seat of the car, she turned her attention away from me. “Hurry up! We have some lost time to make up for.”

 

———

The drive was initially pretty quiet. I wasn’t a natural talker, and Indigo had to focus on the winding road that led to the peak of Mount Hokulani. This gave me ample time to listen to the radio, which was just becoming more and more pleasant every time I turned it on. Gabrielle was roosting in my lap, eyes closed in thought. The rest of the gang had retreated to their pokeballs, apart from Lilac. I didn’t actually have a pokeball for her - most ghost types were notoriously hard to catch, with the exception of pokemon like decidueye, who gained the ghost type as they grew. Instead, she chose to lurk within my shadow, just eavesdropping because… ghosts, right?

The music cut out on the radio as we were about halfway up the mountain, and a voice replaced it, one that chilled me to my very core. “Hello. My name is Lusamine Steele.” Indigo was seemingly tuning it out in favour of watching the tight turns of the road. “I’m here to remind you that, no matter how dark things may seem, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. And that light… is Aether.” A chuckle rose in my throat as she continued. Aether being a light was as much of an oxymoron as water being dry. “I know things look bleak right now, but if we stick together, we can pull through. Recently, some of you may have heard about a terrible incident concerning potential acts of terrorism at the Aether Paradise.” Oh geez, here we go. “I would once again like to put out the alert to aid in the search for Kaia Stirling, Lillie Moreau, and Gladion Drake. These monsters are responsible for—“

“Indigo,” Gabrielle spoke, distracting me from the radio. “Would you mind if we turned that off? It’s a little depressing.”

Indigo blinked, as though she were coming out of a trance. “R-right.” Lusamine’s voice clicked off as she adjusted with the knobs on the dashboard.

We drove in silence for a moment longer, but I felt a question burning in my throat. Finally, when I couldn’t take it anymore, I spat out, “How did you become a faller in the first place?”

She looked towards me, frowning. “I’m sorry?”

I shook my head, my eyes shifting away from hers. “Sorry, it’s super nosy, I was just curious, y’know. Because you need to have contact with an Ultra Wormhole to get faller powers, so… not that I actually know how I got mine either. So I totally understand if you, like, don’t want to answer or whatever. It’s cool. Seriously.”

She stared at me for a while, before breaking into laughter. “Kaia, it’s chill, relax.” I sighed, leaning back into my seat. She scratched her nose, considering the question. “Well, I had a pretty shitty childhood. I grew up just outside Tapu Village - you know where that is, right?” When I nodded, she continued. “I fell in with a rotten crowd. At one point, someone thought it would be funny to dare me to go explore a nearby mall that was said to be _haunted_ ,” she murmured, taking her hands off the wheel for a moment to shake her hands in a pseudo-spooky manner. “Ended up blacking out in there, and when I woke up, I could talk to pokemon.”

“The same thing happened to me!” I exclaimed, startling her. “Sorry, I just mean… that I blacked out too, and then I could talk to pokemon. Please, continue.”

She chuckled. “My uncle thought I was a freak and abandoned me. My ‘friends’ had gotten in trouble with their parents, and refused to talk to me. I was all alone. And then… someone found me, and took me under their wing.”

“Guzma?”

Her eyes met mine, and for the first time, I couldn’t read what was happening behind them. “Yeah, Guzma,” she answered, before turning back to the road. I wonder if she expected me to know that name or not. Her hands wring against the leather of the steering wheel, and a silence settled between us. My eyes drifted towards the passenger window, watching the landscape pass by.

 

———

My eyes flew open.

Sitting up, I fought through my immediate disorientation, rubbing my eyes awake. My heart was slamming into the walls of my chest cavity cacophonously, sending ringing up to my ears, and I could feel my breathing begin to quicken its pace. Only when I felt something grab my hand did I settle and fully take in my surroundings. I was in a car - Indigo’s car - I must have fallen asleep by accident during the drive. I looked at the driver’s seat, meeting Indigo’s gaze with my own. I felt her hand gripping mine, and she stared at me with a concerned look.

“Are you okay, Kaia?” She whispered, dropping my hand. “You had a little freak-out there.”

I sighed, gripping the bridge of my nose. “Yeah, sorry. I just had a… moment.”

“I understand.” I heard the clunk of the parking brake. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“No.”

“Okay.” After a moment, she continued, voice soft, “In any case, we’re here.”

I turned to get a peek out of my window, and the silhouette of the Hokulani Observatory became apparent. It stood tall and proud as it pierced the heavens, an unnatural structure amongst meeting of sky and stone that was Mount Hokulani. Satellites and solar panels adorned its roof, providing renewable energy and communications for something so divorced from society. In the centre of the observatory, a large telescope could be seen extending from the roof.

Slamming the door shut as I stepped from the car, I took a few breaths, in and out. Heart beating quickly. Wasn’t sure why. Gabrielle fluttered to the ground, taking in her surroundings. “I’m gonna go for a little flight, if you don’t mind,” she requested, looking up towards me. “I’m feeling really cooped up.”

I nodded. “That’s fine. I’ll meet you back here in a little bit.”

“You got it.” With that, she was off.

“Y’know, there is a trial here,” giggled Indigo as she made her way over to me, “if you want to challenge it.”

“Ha ha.”

She frowned. “Oh, c’mon! Lighten up a little, it’ll be fine!” She grabbed my hand, yanking my arm out of the socket in the process. “Besides, that was a funny joke.”

“No, it wasn’t.” A smile played on my lips. “It really wasn’t.”

As we approached the observatory, it only grew more foreboding. It was distinctly manmade, the sole relic of humanity amongst the stone and rubble. Surrounding it on either side were paths, made from tiling that suspiciously resembled the ones used at Aether, pure white with a slight glow to them.

“Anabel mentioned they were out back,” I chimed, dread digging at me.

“Right. Do you want to explore the observatory first?” I could tell that Indigo was trying to give me an out — a kind gesture, but ultimately pointless. “We can—”

“It’s all good,” I stumbled through my words, “we don’t want to keep them waiting.”

At the front of the observatory, there was a small security checkpoint set up by Molayne, the local trial captain, in order to protect the observatory. Fortunately, unlike at an airport, this place didn’t require ID, so I didn’t have to worry about being caught. Of course, any person could easily recognize my face from the news and get me arrested… Fun times. Still, we made it through without issue, and weaved our way towards the back of the building.

The pressure of eyes was harsh on my skin. People were staring at me — they knew, they had to know — and I began to hyperventilate.

As we turned the corner, observation deck now in view, twenty or thirty different people could all see me. Recognize me. No one was really looking at us, but one or two made eye contact with me, and I could _sense_ the recognition in their eyes. I scanned for the distinctive purple hair of Anabel, or the open white lab coat of Kukui, heart beating fast.

And then I saw her. Standing next to Kukui, both of them in white lab coats (although one was showing significantly more skin), it was her. Mum. And I stopped. And I turned on my heel. pushing past Indigo. She shouted as I passed. But I didn’t care.

I kept running.

 

———

“Kaia.” Anabel’s voice was quiet, soothing, and yet somehow still caused me to flinch.

“…How did you find me?” I didn’t face her, instead choosing to stare down at my feet for a few moments longer. I wasn’t exactly proud of panicking at the sight of my mom, let alone rushing off the observatory deck and sprinting through security like a maniac.

A chuckle. I felt her take a seat beside me. “You aren’t exactly subtle.” Finally looking in her direction, I took note of the disturbed underbrush that I ran through in order to get here. We were sitting near a small ledge, looking down off Mount Hokulani. Malie City was visible in the distance, a bundle of buildings and roads surrounded by trees and plants. The crossroads of civilization and wilderness.

“Right,” I looked back down at my feet. “That’s fair.”

Silence. Anabel shifted beside me, but she didn’t say anything. Instead, we just sat, feeling the breeze.

“…I can’t face her, Anabel.” The words slipped out of my mouth involuntarily. “Kukui was one thing, but…”

“I get it.” Hands rubbing together, she took a few moments before speaking. “Kaia, you remember that I can’t remember anything about my life before I came to Alola, right?”

Confused, I made eye contact with her. “Yeah?”

She sighed, eyes wandering. “That wasn’t exactly the truth.”

“What?” I couldn’t hide my surprise, lifting my head from my knees.

She nodded, brushing the hair from her face. “A few years ago, I was on Ula’ula Island while exploring some anomalies near the Ruins of Abundance. While I was exploring, I got a massive headache and had to take a seat for a few minutes. And then I remembered something from… before.”

I blinked, absorbed in her story. “What… did you remember?”

“It’s not much,” she said, shoulders retracting. “But I was in an unfamiliar place. There was chaos all around me. People screaming… dying.” Her words were stilted, as though she could barely speak. “And _it_ was there. Consuming them. Sometimes while they were still screaming.”

“It?”

“A horrid creature. Taller than a building, black as night, with multiple heads… Multiple mouths. Including one directly in the centre of its stomach. We have taken to calling it—”

“GLUTTON,” I finished her thought. “I remember.”

“Right.” She scratched her cheek. “The tapes.”

I was enthralled. “And… you fought this thing?”

“…No. I was with my friend, Noland, fighting for our lives and losing.” I could hear the emotion in her voice — and considering this was Anabel, that was more unnerving than anything she could have said. “So he told me to run. And so I ran.”

“You… ran?”

A nod. “I did. And I left him there to die. I left them all to die because I was afraid.” She smiled. “But running didn’t solve anything… and so I swore that the next time I see GLUTTON, I won’t run. Never.”

“Oh, I get it,” I grumbled, rolling my eyes, “but I don’t think this situation is—”

She put her hand on my should, squeezing tight. “I know. But your mom loves you, Kaia. And she’ll forgive you. But only if you _talk to her_.”

“But—”

“Kaia.”

I sighed. “Yeah. You’re right.”

She smiled, releasing my shoulder. “Then c’mon. They’re waiting for us.”

 

———

There’s nothing worse than the feeling of shame, creeping its way down your back.

I approached Mum slowly, like a kid who did something wrong and didn’t want to get caught. She and Indigo were in conversation, seemingly getting along. When she saw me walking back, with Anabel flanking me, she smiled, and I instantly felt ten thousand times worse. Kukui stood beside her, and he gave me a big wave as I approached.

“Hi,” I said when I came in range, voice cracking. “Sorry, I just needed to… figure something out.” I made eye contact with my shoes, shame burning my face.

She hugged me. I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I flinched as arms wrapped around me. I looked up, eyes meeting hers. “Kaia, I’m… so glad you’re safe.” She brushed a bit of my hair out of my face. “You… cut your hair?”

I ran my hand down my neck. “Y-yeah. I thought it looked… kinda cool.”

She chuckled. “It definitely suits you.” An awkward silence. Mum let me go, hands still on my shoulders, eyes roaming my face. There was such worry in them — I didn’t deserve it — that reassured me, somehow. “You’ve grown up so much in the past few months, Kaia.”

“Yeah…” One of my laces had come untied, I noticed after staring at my feet for the tenth time. “Somehow, I doubt that. But Mum, I swear, the thing at Aether…”

“I know, I never believe it was you for a second, Kaia.” More guilt. “I don’t know who this Lusamine woman thinks she is, but she’s got an ass-kicking coming to her if she doesn’t shut it!” Couldn’t say I disagreed with her there, but… “Oh, and I was so relieved to hear that little Hau was alright! Hala was so worried…”

I burst out laughing. “‘Little’ Hau? Mum, you realize the dude is like, 6’2”, if not taller?”

She stared at me, shocked, before chuckling as well. “Hey, I can’t help it! You’re all still children in my mind.”

Indigo’s eyes were burning into the back of my head. A sigh escaped my lips. “Mum, do you think we could talk… alone?” I turned to Kukui, who had been surprisingly silent up until this point. “Sorry, Ku— Lio.”

For a moment, I though Kukui was about to cry. While he was blubbering to me, I pulled Mum away, towards the edge of the observation deck. My hands wrapped around the guardrail, feeling the cool steel beneath my hands. In the distance, a large mountain towered, covered in heavy snow.

“Kaia, honey?” My mum took the spot beside me, resting her hand on mine. “What do you want to talk about?”

I tried to find the words. How do you tell your own mother that you were responsible for over fifteen deaths, that her old friend was secretly evil and planning to take over the world or something, and that things were probably only going to get harder from here? I guess you could always do it like that, rip the band-aid off right away, but…

Sensing my hesitation, Mum looked ahead towards the mountain in the distance. “Kaia, do you know the story of Mount Lanakila?”

Weird how both Anabel and Mum’s attempts to console me involved telling stories. “No? Is there one?”

She sighed. “Supposedly. According to Alolan myth, an ancient palace was built on the site.” She chuckled, rubbing her head. “Made from pure, uncoloured Astralium. Can you believe that? We haven’t seen uncoloured Astralium in centuries but these ancient people were supposedly making _palaces_ out of them.”

“Yeah, crazy.” I didn’t see exactly how it was relevant.

As though she could sense my question, she shook her head and continued. “Either way, the King of Alola, the stories don’t actually give him a name because of course they wouldn’t, was a bit of a whackjob.” She chuckled at that, rubbing her fingernail. “He believed himself to be the sole worthy to walk on the peak of Mount Lanakila, and holed himself away up on that mountain. People tried to follow him, but he had apparently erected some kind of ‘trial’, or a series of challenges that only those who were ‘worthy’ could complete.” Her mouth pursed into a strained smile. “And it worked! No one has been on the peak of Mount Lanakila in all of recorded history. People have supposedly found the first trial at the base of the mountain, but none could complete it. Interestingly, this was how the idea of Alola’s trial system was first conceived, especially once the ultra wormholes began selecting random pokemon to turn into totems in certain areas.”

I stared off towards the mountain, taking in the information bit by bit. “So… some nut locked himself up on a mountain after building a palace made of solid Astralium, then magically stopped anyone he deemed ‘unworthy’ from entering?” I turned to her, face scrunched. “And people actually believe this crap?”

She laughed. “Most historians and skeptics just assume that it’s an unnaturally steep mountain that no one has bothered to climb.” A sigh. “Either way, the point is… according to that whackjob who called himself a king, trials are just something a person has to endure in order to get to what they want. So even if it seems like there’s no hope, remember that there’s always a light at the tunnel. And we’ll all be here, supporting you the entire way.” She finished, running her hand through her hair. When I didn’t respond, she turned back to stare, eyes widening. “Kaia… are you crying?”

“No.” I was. “No, I’m fine.” I ran a hand across my eyes, wiping the tears away.

“Aw, honey!” She moved from the guardrail, her arms wrapping around me once more. “It’s okay! Mum’s always gonna be here for you. Got it?” When I didn’t answer, she jabbed me in the stomach, grinning wildly. “Got it?”

I groaned. “Yes, yes! I’ve got it.” I returned the hug, enjoying the moment for as long as I could.

In the distance, I heard a loud thumping, only to be slammed into by a wall of muscle. “You two are Rock Smashing my heart!” Kukui sniffed, having joined the hug, and he squeezed the two of us tightly.

And I didn’t mind.

“Kaia!” Indigo’s voice, panicked and growing louder, shook me from my stupor. I pulled away, turning to where we had left Indigo and Anabel, only to see them rushing towards me. In Indigo’s hand, she was clutching the walkie-talkie.

I frowned. “What is it?”

She jammed the device in my face. “Listen!”

“…Kaia? Gladion? It’s Lillie. Something went wrong with the plan. They caught us at the library and we’re pinned down. I don’t know how long — Hau! Look out!”

There was a loud crash before the audio cut out.


	31. twenty-nine: the girl who flew

_i have my mother's dreams, i have my father's eyes  
_ _you can't take that from me, just go ahead and try  
_ _the crescent city sleeps, while giants in the sky  
_ _preparing to unleash, let loose a mighty cry_

 

Malie was burning.

It started with the smell, snaking in through the open window, searing my nostrils clean. Gabrielle seemed to smell it first, tensing on my lap. Grit my teeth as her claws dug into my leg, and I felt her shaking beneath my hand. I was about to ask what she was on about when it hit me, too.

“Anabel—”

“Yeah.” The woman had managed to squeeze into the minuscule back seat of the car, and while she appeared to be occupied with finding a comfortable position for her legs, her eyes were facing forward. Alert. “I smell it.”

“Smell what?” Indigo, knuckles white as her hands wrung against the wheel, looked to me, concerned. Her hair was whipping from the blasts of wind coming into her open window. Seeing my concern, she turned to Anabel, hands shaking. “Smell what!”

“Smoke.”

The rest of the drive down the highway was spent in silence, one that nobody dared to break. We were all too nervous, I think, to discuss what that meant, and addressing anything else beyond the smoke would be inappropriate. I could feel it growing denser, more potent, and let loose an involuntary cough every now and again, trying to dilute the searing pain in my lungs. Soon, Malie came into view.

Or rather, the remains of Malie.

It was like the world had decided to go to fucking shit in the six hours I was on Ula’ula Island. In fact, it felt too fucking coincidental to be unrelated.

The sky was on fire.

I had thought the destruction of Heahea was bad, but this… this was what would have happened to Heahea, had none of us intervened. Even from a few kilometres away, smoke and soot was all I could taste. The air, crushing and suffocating, felt significantly warmer than usual, like fire licking up and down my skin.

“Is… is this— something we should be— driving towards?” Indigo asked between coughs, her hands shaking on the wheel. “Maybe we should go somewhere safe instead.” She rolled her window up, and I followed suit.

Anabel nodded, though her face was unreadable. “That would be the safe call.”

“No.” I was stunned by the harshness of the word as it left my lips. “We aren’t abandoning Lillie or Hau. Hell, even Gladion might be in danger!”

“Kaia,” said Indigo, voice going deadly quiet. That was the thing about Indigo — in the short time I’d known her, I’d never seen her get angry. The closest she ever came, to my knowledge, was when Hau had hogged the last piece of her lactose-free pizza. Hau probably still had nightmares about it to this day. “We are literally walking into what looks like a war zone. There is a place for heroism, and this isn’t it.”

Fingernails digging into my palms, I responded though grit teeth, “Indigo, I have lost too many friends… killed too many people, to turn away from this.” I clutched the door handle. “If you don’t want to come with, just drop me off and I’ll meet you back at the boat with Lillie and Hau.”

“That’s suicide. You’re crazy.” Indigo turned to Anabel. “Tell her she’s a fucking loon.”

Anabel shrugged, turning away. “If she wants to go, she should go.”

Groaning, Indigo faced forward again, eyes burning. “Fine. You two want to kill yourselves, that’s great. Fucking fantastic.”

Silence again, with the heat in the car rapidly outpacing the increased temperature outdoors, as Indigo silently fumed. I didn’t have time to deal with her, I needed to save Lillie. She relied on Hau and I, and judging from my last communications with her, Hau had gotten into trouble. I tugged on the walkie-talkie still strapped to my belt in anticipation.

After a few more minutes of driving, the car screeched to a halt, sending Gabrielle flying off my lap and nearly out the windshield. I looked to Indigo, curses hot on my tongue, but froze when I saw the primal fear reflecting in her eyes. I followed her gaze out in front of the car. A few hundred feet in front of us, lined messily end to end, were a cluster of cars near identical to our own. A dozen goons, dressed in a familiar uniform, loitered around, pokemon drawn.

“Indigo…”

In silence, she looked around, finding a place to pull off the road. Tension burned in the air, and the fear in her eyes shifted to something unreadable. Unknowable. “I’m turning around.”

“What?”

She didn’t answer, just signalling to pull a u-turn. Anabel tensed in the seat behind me.

“Indigo, stop!” I was shouting now. “People are dying, we need to help!”

“If Skull is involved, then Aether is involved. And if Aether is involved, they’re sure as hell waiting for you in there.” Her hands were still shaking on the wheel, but they were unflinching. “Gladion would never forgive me if I let you walk into a trap.” Eyes now on me, she shifted a hand away from the wheel to grasp my shoulder. “ _I_ would never forgive myself.”

As she lowered her hand and plunged her foot down on the gas, facing forward, my hand instinctively reached for the door handle. Gabrielle, having resumed her seat on my lap, took note, eyes meeting mine. If I was going to do this, it needed to be now. Soon, she’d be going too fast.

“Sorry, Indigo.”

The door flew open and I tumbled out with it, a singular fluid motion.

Pavement. Spinning. Pain. Blood drew from my lip as I held back a scream. As the world began to fit back into place, I sat up, clutching my head. Tuck, duck and roll only worked so well. But I stood, relief flooding over me. No broken bones. Well, not ones that mattered. Possible broken rib… but that was future Kaia’s problem.

Gabrielle hovered beside me, concerned. “Fuck, are you an absolute dumbass?” She squawked, looking me up and down. “What if you’d broken your leg, or, godforbid, your neck?”

“Can’t get held down by what-ifs.” I replied, looking to the Team Skull blockade, just five hundred or so feet away. I had a very limited amount of time before Indigo came ripping back down the road to retrieve me. “Guess it’s time for that track and field to come in handy.”

“Wha—” Gabrielle’s outcry was interrupted by me launching into a sprint, barrelling towards the blockade. There was a surge of energy, pulsing deep inside me. Adrenaline, maybe? It was primal and incomprehensible, but it pushed me to my absolute limit, shoes hitting the ground at top speed. All the pain from the tumble was washed clean.

Gabrielle fluttered up beside me, though there was a conscious effort on her part to keep up. “What… are you gonna… do?” She asked, out of breath. “You can’t just ram through it!”

I’m not certain how I had the energy to speak. I was running faster than I ever had before, and I was already entirely out of breath, but the words left my mouth without thinking.

“Make. Me. Fly.”

The sound of Indigo’s car came roaring down the road once more, and the barricade was fast approaching. I could already feel myself beginning to lose steam, pace slowing and wheezes leaving my throat louder and louder. A few of the Team Skull goons had noticed me approaching by now, though they all seemed stunned, from what I could see. Though, granted, that was very little, with the mountain of sweat now staining my eyes.

“Hey, what the fuck—” One of them shouted.

It was too late. No stopping now. Instinctively, I took a chance. I jumped. Eyes closed.

For what felt like the longest time, I felt like I was going to go smashing into one of the cars at any moment, face meeting steel, bones compressing into a fine goo. Presenting myself to Lusamine on a silver platter.

So imagine my surprise when my feet met pavement.

The fall hurt less than expected. In my stupor, I turned, looking back at the relative sea of cars that I had just hurdled over. Gabrielle hovered next to me, looking throughly exhausted. In the distance, I saw a girl, blonde hair and pink highlights, step out of her car. Her eyes, blue like the sea, met mine, before she disappeared into the haze of fire and smoke.

Started running. The adrenaline had left, body begging and pleading to stop. Needed to get away. The skull goons, catching up. Curses being thrown, muffled and faded in the distance. Thobbing. Head throbbing. Gabby said something. Distorted. Vision twisting and shifting. Overwhelming urge to vomit.

A spaceship in a mask, hovering in the sky, screeching.

Hands out in front as the ground approached.

Black.

 

— — —

My eyes flew open, muscles locking in place, when a hand rested on my forehead. It took me a moment to recognize the figure hovering over me, his gaunt features and dead eyes looking me up and down. A police badge glittered on his chest in the low light.

“Wh—”

“Shut up.” Nanu looked to the only source of light in the room, a window that shed orange fragments onto his face. “You need to stay as quiet as possible.”

I groaned, pain in my back flaring. I looked to see a large, familiar shape resting beneath me, his stone-like back serving as a cold, hard pillow. I tried to lean off of him, only to feel the pain shoot through my legs. Holding back a scream, I returned to my resting position on Uriah.

I looked to Nanu, trying to read him. “What… happened?”

He scoffed. “You passed out in the middle of the street.” He stood, shuffling towards the window, frowning. “From what I understand, your oricorio brought out your bastiodon and the two of them dragged you to safety. I found them in here without even trying. Had one of _them_ ,” he said, pointing out the window, “bothered to look, they would have easily found you as well. And then where would you be?”

As the pain began to fade, I shuffled towards the window, gritting my teeth.

The world outside was a mix of fire and debris. If the attack on Heahea had been bad, this looked so much worse. Everywhere you looked, there was a corpse or a burning building or a screaming civilian. I began to shake. “How… could this have happened?” My words left in shambles, I clutched the window frame for support.

He scoffed. “Team Skull raid. They’re a pretty big nuisance on Ula’ula, but usually stay up in Po Town.” There was tinges of regret in his voice, breaking through his apathetic tone. “Can’t say I ever expected Guzma to have enough balls to stroll right into Malie. Not to mention… those things.”

My blood ran cold. “Things? Not…?”

“Yeah. Ultra Beasts.” As though on cue, a screech rang through the street, and I ducked involuntarily. “Ones we’ve never even seen before. They showed up right when Team Skull did, as though on cue.”

My mind was running a mile a minute. Were there fallers in the city? Anabel said that, the denser the faller count in a single area, the more attracted the Ultra Beasts are to said area. Nanu was one… could Guzma also be one? Or maybe someone else in Team Skull?

“Wait,” I said, standing up fully. “You said Guzma was here? In the city?”

“Still is,” replied Nanu, eyes wary as he turned to stare at me. “Whatever they’re looking for, they haven’t found it yet.”

Lillie.

“Thanks for your help, Nanu.” I moved away from the window, back towards the resting bastiodon. “I’ll talk to you later.”

“What, you’re leaving?” He narrowed his eyes, following me across the room. “Have you learned nothing?”

“Lillie’s out there and she needs my help.” I pulled my backpack onto my shoulders after confirming the essentials were there. I felt his hand wrap around my shoulder.

“Stop being a fucking idiot.” I stopped. Breathing in, I turned to face him. He stared me down. “You can’t just throw yourself at a problem and hope it dies. Both Hala and Olivia sang your praises as a ‘smart’ trainer. ’Strategic’, they called you. Olivia especially.” Tone mocking, there were still beats of sincerity in his words, catching me off-guard. “So where the fuck did that person go?”

“I was… trying to be a hero.”

“No,” he scoffed, turning away. “You were trying to be a martyr.”

Stunned into silence, I slumped against the wall. Nanu took his place at the window, avoiding eye contact. I wasn’t… sure what I was supposed to do. What he wanted me to do. My arm rested on Uriah’s back, and a frown formed on my face. Burns laced up and down the rough, rock-like skin.

I stood again, shouldering my bag. I returned Uriah back to his pokeball with a thank you. Nanu's eyes were searing into my back, but this was beyond him. “Thank you for your help, Mr. Nanu.” As my hand reached for the doorknob, I froze, trying to think of some sort of reassurance, that I would be okay, that everything would be fine. Nothing came to mind.

A moment later, a sigh rang from the corner of the room. The kahuna shuffled his way towards me, rummaging something from his bag. As he reached me, he shoved a small charm in my face. “If you’re going to do something stupid, at least take this.”

I took it in my hands, feeling the cool metalwork in my hands. It was a small amulet, with a multicoloured gem of some kind in the centre — yellow, red, pink, and purple. “What is it?”

“It’s for your oricorio. I noticed that she’s in a different form than when I last saw you” He shrugged, looking away. “Not sure what the deal is there, but an oricorio transitioning into a different form can be traumatic. This is just in case she ever wants to go back.”

I pocketed it. “Thanks, I’ll be sure to bring it up to her.”

“Oh. And… I guess you may as well take this.” In his hand was another astralium crystal, this time a dark grey with what appeared to be bat wings carved into the front. “For your umbreon. You’ve earned it, I think.”

A deep, shaky breath. I was going to face Ultra Beasts again.

 

— — —

“So yeah, essentially, we’re fucked.” The purple plumage of Gabrielle was tainted black with soot. She rested gently on my forearm, not making eye contact. I tried not to cough in her face, my lungs still searing as they adjusted to the smoke-filled air. “These Skull tweebs have pulled out their entire force, apparently. All roads out of the city are being blocked off by those patrols we saw, and honestly, I don’t think I can pull that same jumping trick again. I get exhausted just thinking about it.”

I nodded, reaching to scratch dust some of the soot off of her. “And the harbour?”

She shied away from my touch, but eventually relented and let me pet her. “Open, but it looked like those Skull goons have been taking occupancy in the boats and preventing people from entering.”

I sighed. “Did it look like Gladion was okay?”

“No clue. He wasn’t there.”

With a nod, I peeked out of the alleyway the two of us currently occupied. “Alright, that’s probably a good sign. It means he got out.” I looked towards the sky. “Any sign of the spaceship monster?”

A cold front hit my back as Lilac revealed herself from my shadow. “First off,” she said, her voice harsh. “I don’t appreciate being used as a scout. But considering that one,” she nodded to Gabrielle, “helped Uriah and saved me a lot of trouble, I’m letting it go. This once. Don’t make this into a habit.”

“Right, right.” Just my luck, just as Gabrielle and I began to get on the same page, I happened to recruit another uncooperative pokemon. “Did you see anything?”

“Any of those Team Skeleton people who aren’t blocking an exit are near the Library.” I had figured, but the confirmation was nice. “The two celesteela are hovering around the city, especially close to the library, acting as sentries of some kind.”

“Celesteela?”

Her eyes lit up. Or, at least, what looked like her eyes. Incorporeal creatures are weird. “Oh! I forgot, that’s not really common knowledge here. The spaceship monsters.”

I had lots of questions, but decided to abandon them for now. It wasn’t the first time Lilac had made nearly no sense to me. “Alright then.” I released Soren from his pokeball, breathing a sigh of relief..

“Hi, guys!” He looked towards the bird on my arm, tail wagging. “Hi, Gabrielle!”

“Hi.” Gabrielle began to shift around on my arm, looking away.

Running my hand over his head, I filled him in on the plan. “Soren, we’re headed towards the library. You’ll stick by me and fight off anything we might run into. Gabrielle, you’ll take to the air and scout for any incoming danger. Lilac, you’ll go with her and keep her hidden in case one of those sentry beasts makes its way around. Sounds good?”

“That works for me!” He stood, stretching himself out. “I’m looking forward to doing something like this. The past few weeks of nothing have been a little mind-numbing.”

As Gabrielle took off my arm, hovering gently in the air, I stood up. “Remember, Gabrielle: if you see _anything_ , you let me know. Go with your gut.”

With that, I stepped from the alleyway. A small bandana, made from the remnants of one of my shirts, covered my face, so as to minimize the risk of death by smoke inhalation. Soren was close by my side, recovering from the lingering pokeball stasis and growing more alert. As we stepped away, voices echoed from the alleyway.

“So, you and the puppydog, huh?” Lilac’s voice had returned to playful and teasing, a shift from her earlier harshness.

“No! I mean, no, it’s not—”

“Listen, I don’t blame you. He’s a hunk.”

If umbreon could blush, Soren would be a fucking tomato.

 

— — —

I wasn’t sure whether I was frustrated or relieved that the Ultra Beasts didn’t make an appearance during our trip over to the library. On one hand, it’s a fucking terrifying creature capable of murdering thousands, but somehow, going off only my brief glimpse of it was a hundred times worse. I just… wanted to get it over with.

Finding the library itself wasn’t too hard. It was essentially a game of “follow the trail of the Team Skull goons”, which consisted of finding the most destroyed road at each intersection and following that. Soon enough, we were facing the hoard of Team Skull as they came into view.

“I hadn’t realized… there was so many of them,” said Soren, fur bristling. “What are we going to do?”

Stepping into a nearby alley, my mind began to race. “We need a distraction.” Noting Soren’s confused expression, I continued. “If we could get one of our own to go out there and make a scene while the rest of us sneak into the library, we could find Lillie and Hau easily.”

“I could do it,” responded Soren, looking resolute.

I shook my head. “No, you’re most useful in a stealth-type scenario. I think we’re gonna need more firepower.” Reaching to my belt, I withdrew the worn pokeball of Lani. Scuffs of dirt and soot covered the small red cap. A smile crossed my face as I noticed the small smile drawn in next to her name.

With Lani out of her pokeball, I filled her in on the plan. Gabrielle and Lilac joined us fairly quickly, mentioning that they had found the ultra beasts in the gardens out behind the library. Once I was confident that all we had to deal with was the Skull grunts, I stepped out from the alley, Lani and Soren following closely.

A female grunt was the first to notice us, and called out a warning to her friends. It was time. Deep breath. In, out. In, out. “Lani, you ready?”

“Of course.”

I touched my bracelet, where the blue gem with a primarina carved into it resided. “Now! Oceanic Operetta!”

Time slowed. Lani swayed out in front of me — slower, slower — and began to sing her song. There was nothing. All at once, the sound of rushing water drew closer — faster, faster — as a huge blast of water shifted down the street behind me, drawing either from the gardens or the ocean. It didn’t matter. Starting as a small wave, it gradually grew — larger, larger — seemingly in time with Lani’s singing. The goons, who had noticed the incoming wave now, all began to panic and disperse. I returned Soren to his pokeball — closer, closer — giving Lani a knowing look.

Closed my eyes.

The water blasted into my back, but as opposed to the relentless beating of an ocean current, it embraced me like a gentle caress. The cool liquid was a relief from the heat-filled air. It carried me forward, like a loving parent, releasing me in front of the front door to the library and slithering away.

I looked back out at the carnage left in Lani’s wake. The cars that lined the street, previously on fire or looted (most likely both), were now overturned and laying in the centre of the road. While ordinarily, using the primarium in the middle of a city would be an easy way to get sued for destruction of property, there was already so much damage going on, I doubted it would be an issue. Not to mention, the primarina had done her job — the team skull grunts had cleared out, either lingering around the street in a daze or having fled. She looked exhausted, giving me a small smile. With a nod, I returned her to her pokeball.

In the same motion, I sent out Uriah as I stepped into the library. “Uriah, you and Lilac can handle the front door, right?” When he gave me a nod, I touched his mask. “Don’t let anyone in.”

“You got it, Kaia.”

“Yeah!” Lilac materialized out of his shadow. “We’ll fuck shit up!”

Gabrielle landed on my forearm. “We need to hurry!” She blinked, looking out at the drenched street. “Holy fuck, what did you guys do?”

“Doesn’t matter. What happened?”

She tapped her foot. “The ultra beasts are on their way. I just caught a glimpse of them leaving the gardens.”

Nodding, I turned back to the door. “Uriah, Lilac? New plan.” Uriah shuffled closer to me, frowning. “Uriah, you come inside and keep the door closed with that handy shield of yours. Lilac, can you do your ghosty magic to prevent people from coming near?”

She swirled around my head, face twisting and contorting. “I don’t wanna! I want to stick with Uriah, I’m sick of us being split up.”

I put my hands in my face, groaning. “Please! It’s important, and we don’t have enough time!”

Uriah sighed, looking up to the ghost. “It is quite important, Lilac.” He scuffed his foot on the ground. “I would _appreciate_ if you helped us out.”

Lilac stopped. “You’re sure?”

“I’m sure.”

A pearly white smile, seemingly corporeal, appeared on Lilac’s face it. “You got it, buddy!” And then she was gone once more.

Rubbing my face, I walked into the library, door closing behind me.

 

— — —

I had never seen so many books in a single place before. Rows upon rows of books, bastions of knowledge, lead as far back as I could see. Malie’s library was known for being gigantic, but this was beyond anything I ever expected. And there was a whole other floor to this! I stepped forward, Soren, Uriah, and Gabrielle by my side.

“Well, this is unexpected. If it isn’t ‘Kalypso’.” I froze, a familiar voice ringing through the deserted building. A woman stepped from behind a bookcase, arms crossed. She looked like I remembered — dyed hair and yellow eyes, tattoos running up her arms. “Or… I guess I should call you Kaia, right?”

“Plumeria.” My hands clenched. This wasn’t ideal.

“I have to say,” she said, dropping her arms to reveal the pokeball resting in her palm, “had I known you’d be causing us so much trouble in the future, I’d probably have tried to punish you worse back then.”

“Where are Lillie and Hau?” My voice cracked, facade of strength breaking for a moment. “What the fuck did you do to them!”

She chuckled, tossing her arms up. “Guzma’s dealing with them. My job… is to stop any intruders.” Her eyes narrowed. “People like you.”

Guzma? The leader of Team Skull… was here?

My eyes flitted to the stairs at the back of the room. Plumeria’s gaze followed mine, and I used the distraction to push past her, making a break for it. I slid to a stop as a flash of white light appeared in front of me, her salazzle making its appearance. It let loose a small chuckle, and I flinched back.

“Gabrielle! Go find them!” A flash of purple as I launched her off my arm.

“Flame Burst, Hesta!”

Gabrielle let out a screech as a blast of flame flew past her, grazing her wing. Soren, having made his way back to me, let out a howl, his attention turned to the salazzle. I watched as the creature began to convulse, crumpling to the ground. Uriah had made his way to us, and I ushered the two of them forward.

“Nice Psychic, Soren!” It was the first time he’d actually been able to pull it off against another pokemon since we received the TM from Anabel. “Come on, let’s find Gabrielle!” I heard the screeching of the salazzle behind us, having recovered from the psychic blast. A ball of fire singed my back as we rounded the corner, exploding into flame a short distance away.

“Are you fucking insane?” I shouted behind me, “you’re going to fucking burn down the entire place!” The bookcase that had been hit had already caught flame.

“Anything to buy time for Guzma!”

We continued running darting randomly at each intersection between the barriers of books. Uriah was struggling to keep up, huffing deeply, while Soren had sprinted ahead, eyes scanning each nook and cranny. I was tempted to call her name, just for confirmation that she was alright, but it was vital to avoid giving away our position.

Taking a moment, I bent down and waited for Uriah to catch up to me. “Uriah, would it be possible to create a wall of rock behind us once we reach the stairs?”

“Possibly. But it would create lots of damage.”

I gestured at the room around us, flinching as the sound of another fireball slamming into a bookcase rang in my ears, more information going up in flame. “I don’t think much of this place is getting out unharmed anyway.”

“I can—”

“Over here!” Soren’s voice rang out from a distance away, and I stood, sprinting in his direction. I found him towering over Gabrielle, licking her wing incessantly.

“Gabby, are you okay?” I asked, leaning down to inspect her injuries.

“I… think so. Not sure I can fly, though.”

I groaned. “I’m sorry. I guess we can carry you? If you were in a pokeball, this would be easier, but we can adapt.” I turned to Uriah, hand resting on his shield. “If Gabrielle were to sit on your back, you’d be able to protect her, right?”

He looked at the oricorio for a moment, before nodding. “Yeh, I could do—”

“Ugh, no.” Gabrielle poked her head up, shuffling away from Soren. Her eyes darted away, refusing to meet mine. “It’s fine. I can go in one of those… ball things.”

My heart stopped. “What?”

She sighed. “I suppose it’s about time, right? Besides, Soren’s been in one since he was born and he turned out alright, so…” She met my gaze, eyes turning up in what could loosely be called a smile. “Being in an oppression ball can’t be so bad, right?”

I nodded. “Yeah.” Fishing an unused pokeball out from my bag, I activated it and presented it to her. She tapped it with her talon, disappearing into a red light. The ball shook once, twice, and for a moment I was certain she was playing some stupid trick on me, but then it stilled.

Another blast of fire blew directly over our location, shocking me back into action. I shoved Gabrielle’s pokeball onto my belt, looking to my two remaining pokemon. “C’mon, let’s go!” And I took off into a sprint.

Flames had spread to most of the bookshelves on the first floor by now, and I could even feel the smoke beginning to seep through my mask. By the time we made it to the stairs, I was nearly about to collapse into a fit of coughs.

“Hesta! Block their exit!” Her scream echoed through the fire and smoke.

“Uriah!”

With a grunt, a slab of stone rose from the ground, blocking the blast of fire. The flames wrapped around the stone, licking my cheek, but the threat was gone. We reached the stairs, and Uriah pulled the stone closer, sealing the exit. We waited, tense, to see if she would attempt to break it down.

Silence.

“Is she gone?” asked Soren, head tilting.

Was she? It seemed weird for her to — No.

“Fuck!” My feet slammed up the stairs as I went into a full-out sprint. “Lillie! Hau!” I screamed, over and over, voice growing hoarse. I checked each of the rooms on the upper floor — private booking rooms for those who were looking to study something in private — until I found one that had its door blown off its hinges.

Inside, two figures were crumpled on the floor. Hau was near the door, face down, with his incineroar lying nearby. In the centre of the room was Lillie, clothes stained with dirt. Her bag was gone.

And there was no sign of Guzma.

 

— — —

“Gladion!” I waved at him, relief washing over me to see him alright.

The sun had disappeared, but the sky was still alight with the flames of Malie. After rescuing Lillie and Hau in the library, we had retreated out of the city to the outskirts of town, where a refugee camp had been established. Team Skull had disappeared alongside Guzma, and the Ultra Beasts along with them.

He looked in my direction, and a smile crossed his face. We moved towards each other, and he surprised me by wrapping me in a hug once we met in the middle of our trajectory. I flinched, but didn’t pull away. He was… surprisingly muscular, all things considered. His ragged clothing and height made him resemble a stick, especially side by side with Hau.

“Thank you for saving my sister,” he said, as he released me from the hug. “I got held up by some of those fucking idiots, or I would have tried myself. She probably would have been dead by the time I got there.”

I nodded, rubbing the burn on my arm. Now I had two matching ones, both from salazzle. Funny how the world worked sometimes. “It was… no problem. Anyone would have done the same thing.” I sighed, looking behind me. “They’re keeping her under observation, but they say she’s mostly unharmed. Surprisingly so, even.”

“Can we go see her?”

A nod. “Yeah, any minute n—” I was interrupted by a shove out of the way by a cluster of police officers. Rubbing my shoulder, I moved out of the centre of the makeshift “road”, Gladion joining me. “Assholes.”

He chuckled. “What happened to Indigo and Anabel?” I had left them without a walkie-talkie, meaning that we were cut off from communications with them.

“Indigo wanted to stay out of danger, I disagreed.”

“And Anabel?”

I looked at my feet, trying to delete the blush from my cheeks. “I didn’t really give her an option,” I said, laughing, and Gladion joined me in laughter. There was something relieving about laughter — like I was dumping a weight from my chest. “I’m sure they’re fine. Do you know if they’ve got the communications tower back up yet?”

He shook his head. “Doesn’t seem like it. Everyone is kinda scrambling still.” He put a hand on his head. “I can’t believe Mother would pull something like this. Think about how many lives were lost! I knew she was crazy, but…”

I put my hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay. I don’t think anyone could have predicted this. That was probably their plan, honestly.” I leaned back on a nearby wall, looking upwards. “Use the ultra beasts to knock out the communications tower, creating panic, and using the panic to make their move. Who could have predicted that?” I chuckled. “And all to capture us? I guess we should feel honoured.”

As we laughed about that for a moment, a young man approached us, glasses glimmering against the burning sky. “Excuse me? You’re with Miss Laura Davies, right?”

I nodded, to the surprise of Gladion. “That’s us! Is she awake yet?”

“She is, and she’s requesting to see you. Follow me?” We trotted behind the nurse as he lead us to one of the medical tents nearby. As we arrived, he turned to face us. “Now, she suffered quite a shock, but her vitals are stable. She _has_ requested that you leave your pokemon with me, however.”

My gaze met Gladion’s in our mutual confusion. Noting this, the nurse continued, “while I don’t know the exact reason, many of our patients are dealing with some trauma concerning pokemon-like creatures. It’s better to be safe than sorry.” Nodding, I reluctantly relinquished my pokeball belt to him, and Gladion followed suit. The nurse held the tent flap open for us to enter.

“Woah, private tent?” whispered Gladion as we stepped inside, “how’d we manage to snag this? It’s got to be quite a commodity.”

“Nanu,” I responded, before looking towards the cot that had been hastily set up in the centre. Lillie had opened her eyes, brilliant green, and looked surprisingly alert for someone who already died. A weary smile crossed her face as we entered.

“Gladion! Kaia!” She wrapped us into a hug as we approached. “I’m so glad you’re safe!” The Moreaus were a surprisingly hug-happy family. Releasing us, a look of worry crossed her face. “Is the other one alright!”

“The other one?” I looked to Gladion, confused. “Hau?”

She nodded, a pained expression planting itself on her face. “Yes, sorry, my brain’s a little fuzzy right now.”

“He’s alright,” I replied. “Possibly has a few broken ribs but he’s breathing.”

“That’s great to hear.”

I sighed. “They got Nebby, though. I’m sorry, we’ll get him back.”

A nod. “Okay.”

What? “Um… You seem… surprisingly alright with that.”

“No, I just trust that we’ll get him back.” She folded her hands in front of her.

“Uh, Lillie,” I placed my hand on hers. “I think we’re gonna leave you in Nanu’s care. Gladion and I can handle this, and you should get your rest. Don’t w—”

“No!” Lillie’s voice was harsh, an extreme shift from earlier. She seemed to realize this, and shrank back down. “No, I need to be there.”

“Sorry, Lil,” replied Gladion, grabbing her other hand. “It isn’t safe.”

The girl sighed, before looking up. I met her gaze, my greens meeting her blues. Wait… “Well, this is unfortunate. I can’t say any information I gathered could have prepared me for this.” Her voice… “I guess it’s time to get rid of this.”

She sprang from the bed, facing away from me. I stepped back in shock. She placed her hand to her face, and began to stretch. Physically. She grew a good foot taller, skin thinning straight down to the bone. Chitin. Her hair turned from pale blonde to pure white, translucent. Two long antenna stretched from the top of her head down to her feet. And when she turned back to face us, her eyes had been replaced by two large, buglike blue eyes.

“Greetings, Miss Stirling. Mister Moreau.” Her voice was entirely different now, low and alien. “My name is Pheromosa. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”


	32. thirty: quid pro quo

_there's a room where the light won't find you  
_ _holding hands while the walls come tumbling down  
_ _when they do, i'll be right behind you_

 

My first instinct, confronted by one of the eldritch creatures seemingly out to destroy all of humanity, was to fall flat on my ass.

Scrambling on the ground, I reached for my pokeball belt — which I had handed off to that nurse. Fuck. I backed as far away from that… thing as possible, hands sullied by the rough dirt beneath us. Gladion, meanwhile, had completely frozen up, staring at that monster, unblinking.

Eyes - its only discernible facial feature - pierced from above as it towered over me. “Now, now,” it spoke again, voice like a woman whispering in water, “panic is not necessary. In fact, if we could avoid any further melodrama, that would make my task much easier."

"What…” Gladion could only speak in a dull mutter, shaking like a voltorb about to explode, as he asked, “how did you…?”

“Does it matter?” Its eyes, a dull purplish colour with blue pupils, pulsated like a beating heart. Its gaze shifted from me to him, “My, I forgot how faint-hearted you creatures are. And here I was, hoping for the three of us to have a pleasant conversation.”

I wasn’t sure exactly what steeled my resolve. Maybe it was seeing Gladion in the middle of a full-on panic attack, such a dramatic shift from his usual persona, that shocked me back into reality, but with an unsteady breath, I stood back up, eyes not moving from the creature for a single moment.

“Why… why would you do this?” It took all of my energy to not stutter as I stared the creature down.

“This?”

“ _All_ of this!” I waved my hands around me, fire igniting in my stomach. “All this death, chaos, destruction! I thought you were beasts, and yet…”

The creature hummed, a sound that echoed all inside of my head. “Interesting. You take me for a fool, Miss Stirling? Why would I volunteer that information so easily?”

My head spun. “What?”

“Here is how this is going to work.” The creature, who had previously stayed almost impossibly still, moved closer to me, its speed faster than anything I had ever seen. It stopped just short, towering above me. “I have separated the two of you from your pokemon because I was hoping to have a civil conversation, and so that is what we shall have. You will tell me what I wish to know, and in exchange I may spare your lives.”

I ignored the sound of my heartbeat skipping and tried to focus on its words. “Why do you need us for information? You seem to know a lot about us already.” Somehow, arguing seemed to distracted me from the danger of it all. “What can I even tell you that you don’t already know?”

“Interesting.” It chuckled, stretching its shoulders. “You are trying to bait me into revealing my hand. I hadn’t exactly pegged you for the intelligent type, so there you go, you’ve mildly impressed me. Perhaps you do have some use beyond this trivial information I require.” Again, a chuckle. “Maybe I won’t kill you.”

“Bullshit.” Our conversation must have re-galvanized Gladion, as he stood, staring the thing down. “You need us alive to get what you want. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have revealed yourself.”

“Wrong,” it replied, and I sensed the malice in its voice only a moment too late. “I only need her.” At speeds faster than I had ever seen, it whipped around, gripping its spindly claws around his throat and hoisting him into the air. “So I suggest you sit pretty like the little hostage you are.” After a moment, it dropped its grip, sending him plummeting to the ground on his knees, gasping for air. I dropped to my knees next to him, frowning at the red marks around his throat.

All the wind had been ripped from my sails. What did I have to bargain with? Gladion was in immediate danger if I didn’t start talking… and the completely unprepared population of Malie sat just outside the tent walls.

Shit.

A sigh slipped from my lips. “What do you want?”

It hummed again. “A few weeks ago, a Buzzwole unit was sent forth through a rift alongside several Kartana units. While the Kartanas were soon confirmed dead, the Buzzwole units was nowhere to be seen.” Taking another step closer to me, it leaned down to my level, squinting. “Considering it was sent to _your_ position, I can only assume you know what happened to it.”

“A big assumption,” I replied, narrowing my eyes in turn. Standing, I turned to face it. There was something about the danger that steeled my resolve. I wasn’t sure what she meant by Buzzwole or Kartana, but I had some theories. “Who is to even say I know where it ended up?”

“You better hope you do,” it said, voice dripping with malice, “or else you’re a lot less useful to me.”

Oh. Right.

“Fine. Let’s say I do know where this ‘Buzzwole’ is.”

Its eyes lit up. “Then tell me where it is!”

I smiled, teeth digging into my lip. “I was actually going to ask why you care.”

“I don’t.”

“You do!” I couldn’t help but feel smug, taking a step closer to the creature and crossing my arms.. “You just told me all I needed to know. You can call it a ‘unit’ as much as you like, but there’s a personal stake in all this.”

It stared me down with its razor sharp glare. “I could kill this entire town, person by person, until you give up the information.” Its voice was laced with frustration.

“If you touch a single person,” I chided, “I’ll never say a word. Ever.”

“I could torture it out of you.”

“I’m pretty good under pressure.”

Silence. Due to the mostly featureless face of this creature, it was near impossible to get a good read on it. Its eyes swept across my face, scanning, and I remained motionless in hopes of hiding my palpitating fear. After a moment, it retracted, looking away.

“How much do you care about your dear friend Lillie, Ms. Stirling?” Eyes back on me, I could feel arrogance radiating off it like waves.

I froze. “What do you…?”

“She’s being taken to the dreaded Po Town, right?” The creature chuckled again. “Only have a few days tops before they decide to move her from there to Aether. And once she’s at Aether, well…” It shrugged. “Let’s just say that she most likely won’t be escaping again.”

“Why…” Gladion wheezed, standing to his feet. “…Would they take… her to Po… Town?”

A laugh rang in my ears. “I suppose that’s for me to know. That said, tell me, Mr. Moreau…” The creature shifted to stare directly into Gladion’s face. “How easy do you think it will be to infiltrate a walled compound completely infested with people out to capture the two of you?” Gladion grew quiet. We made eye contact, and the frustration brewing behind them told me all I needed to know.

“I’m sure we could figure something out.”

“In time?” When I didn’t respond, the creature let out a dramatic sigh, crossing its arms. “Well, fine, I suppose I’ll have to sweeten the pot.” With the snap of its fingers and a flash of bright light, a leather-bound book, looking as though it had left in a vacuum cleaner during spring cleaning, appeared in my arms. On the front, in small golden print, read: _The Incursion: Alola’s Forgotten History_.

The book Lillie had been looking for.

“Miss Moreau was _so_ close to finding it too. Of course,” said the creature, a chuckle following, “my intervention probably didn’t help speed things along. Aren’t you curious as to why it was so important for her to read it?” I moved to open it, only for the book to disappear from my grasp and appear in the creature’s once more. “Ah, ah, ah. Do we have a deal?”

Silent, I turned to Gladion, making eye contact again. I could see the conflict brewing behind his eyes, presumably mirroring mine, but after a moment, he nodded. Satisfied, I turned back to the creature. Pheromosa. “Fine,” I grunted out, clenching and unclenching my fists, “deal.”

If the creature could grin, it would be a mile long. “Hurray! I knew you would see things my way. Makes things much easier on my end, if you can believe it. But, I have two little asterisks to throw in there,” it said, and I whipped to attention, frowning. “Number one: I’ll give you the book right away as a sign of good faith, but as soon as the deed in Po Town is done, I expect Buzen to be released. Deal?” When I nodded, it continued, “And number two…”

“Is she in here?” A familiar voice, weak yet driven, rang from outside the tent. Hau. “Can I go in and see her?”

“Number two, my true nature cannot leave this room. If I find out that either of you told anyone, I’ll kill you.” I made to protest, but it gave me no quarter, holding up a claw. “Got it?”

The tent flew open, and I whipped around to face Hau, panic rising in my chest. He looked rough, a sling holding his arm in place and a bandage around his head, but it didn’t seem to be affecting him at all. Instead, I watched as the look of happiness turned into confusion. “Where’s… Lillie?”

I turned back to face Pheromosa, only to see her gone. In her place, a girl with blonde hair and green eyes, much like our missing friend, only with the details slightly changed and shifted. The hair was longer, the skin was tanner, the frame was more stick-like. The stranger flashed me a knowing smile, and I felt my skin crawl.

“This is…” I started, only to flinch when I realized that I had no lie in the bank. I didn’t feel good about lying to Hau, but I couldn’t help but take Pheromosa’s threat seriously. Gladion seemed similarly perplexed, leaning against ‘Lillie’s’ makeshift bed with a frown blasted on his face.

“Phera. You can call me Phera.” The girl finished my thought, smile fading into a frown. “Former Team Skull member.” She wiped her eyes, as though getting rid of tears. “They switched me with your friend to distract you guys so they could steal her away.”

“What?!” Hau’s voice rose three octaves, panic racing into his eyes. “Team Skull has Lillie?”

“Yes…” Her voice grew melancholic as she stared down at her feet, and I felt my heart reaching out to her, even though I was in on the deception. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause trouble.”

“We have to go help her!” Hau was already turned around and shuffling out of the tent, wincing all the while. “C’mon we can— ow— take the boat!”

“Hau.” I grabbed his uninjured arm, holding back. “C’mon. You’re injured. You can’t go racing into this stuff.”

“Lillie is…!”

“I know.” Unconsciously, I took two steps further away ‘Phera’. “And we’ll get her back. But we need to use our heads here, not our hearts.” I wanted, with all _my_ heart, to tell him how much danger he was in at that moment. “Did the paramedics clear you to leave?”

The storm clouds brewing on his face grew darker for a moment, before he sighed, relaxing. “Yeah. Just not too much physical activity for a few days.”

“Great.” Dropping his arm, I turned back to face the rest of the group. “It’ll take us a day or so to get to Po Town presumably, so we can use that time for you to heal and for use to discuss an actual plan.”

Gladion pulled himself from the bed, approaching me. “It’ll take us a bit longer than that. Even if we speed around the island, we won’t be able to dock at Po Town for obvious reasons and there’s no other places to dock without risk.” His eyes left me and made contact with Hau’s. “We’ll have to beach in the Blacksand Lagoon to the east of the Tapu Village, and walk the rest of it. Maybe a day or so of walking. Will you be able to make it?”

Hau nodded. “I’ll be fine. And… Phera?” He turned to her, scratching his head. “I know you’ve… probably been through a lot, and I don’t mean to pry, but is… there any way you’d be willing to help us? I don’t know how much these guys have told you, but—”

The girl held her hand up, wiping the tears away once more. “Yes. Of course. This is my responsibility, and I’ll do anything to make it right!”

A grin came to his face! “Great, thank you! You won’t regret this.”

Ugh.

[hr]

The four of us left fairly quickly after that. The nurse seemed shocked at “Laura’s” miraculous recovery, but let us go without much complaint. I got the sense that he was just happy to have one less person to take care of.

As I readjusted my belt, now filled with pokeballs once more, I felt a sense of security fill me once more. I’m probably developing separation anxiety because of all this bullshit. Soon enough, we were leaving the refugee camp, walking down the empty, ransacked streets of Malie City towards the docks. Part of me wanted to say goodbye to Nanu, to thank him for all he did, but we didn’t have time.

Hau led the pack, him and Phera making fast friends. My eyes were on her at all times, for obvious reasons. Just because I was strong-armed into bringing her along didn’t mean I had any sort of faith in her. At all. Gladion and I took up the rear, and once we were a decent distance into the city, he tapped me on the shoulder.

“You trust her?”

“Of course not.”

“Good. Me neither.”

And that was that.

[hr]

When we reached the boat, two familiar faces were waiting for us. Before I could even react, I was slapped in the face then wrapped into a hug.

“You fucking idiot,” murmured Indigo, still not releasing me, “don’t ever fucking do something that stupid again, got it?”

“Y-yeah.” I was stunned by her clinginess. In all the time that I’d known her, Indigo had never been much of a hugger. “Sorry.”

“It _was_ impressively stupid.” Anabel piped in as Indigo released me, a rare smile on her face. Soon, however, her attention was drawn to the stranger in our little group. “And who might you be?”

Phera stared back, and for a moment, it felt like I was witnessing a conversation held entirely telepathically. Then, like a dam had broke, she twisted her expression into a shy smile. “Phera. I’m helping these guys get their friend back.”

Anabel’s attention was snapped to me. “Lillie’s gone?”

“Guzma took her. Swapped her… with a decoy.” The lie was bitter on my tongue.

“Gotcha.” There was a shred of skepticism in Anabel’s eyes, and I basically internally begged her to realize what was happening. But if she figured it out, she didn’t make it apparent, and instead reached down and handed me another walkie-talkie. “At least take this, alright?”

“You aren’t coming?”

She shook her head. “I need to discuss some things with Nanu. Just… be careful, alright?”

My shoulders slumped. There had been a flicker of hope when I saw Anabel - a way out - but with no way to talk to her alone without drawing suspicion, it looked like it was up to me. Again. As the purple-haired woman departed, her heels clicking against the concrete, I turned to face our group of five.

“…Indigo, would you mind preparing the boat? I need to talk to Hau for a minute,” said Gladion, causing Hau to do a double-take. After Indigo nodded in agreement, racing back onto the boat to prepare for launch, the blond man ushered Hau a distance away.

Leaving me alone with Phera.

“So. Your lie worked, then.” I tried to hide my disdain, to very little effect. “Congratulations.”

“They always do.” She grinned. “Relax. This is a mutually beneficial agreement, remember? Quid pro quo.”

“Right.”

“Speaking of,” she said, her voice returning to its guttural, natural sound for a moment, and she pulled a book from thin air. “Here you go. Don’t go reading it all at once now, yeah?”

My hand darted to snatch it from her, and she let me take it with a laugh. Waving goodbye, the… creature turned to walk up the gangplank, exclaiming something overly-peppy and happy. I watched her leave, my stomach dropping. In my heart of hearts, I knew this was a horrible decision, but there was nothing I could do. Not yet.

And so, I stood alone, holding the book that we had come to get. So much trouble, all for one stupid book. What could possibly be worth it all? Why did Lunala specifically ask Lillie to come get it? What answers could it possibly provide that someone who can literally enter the dreams of others could not?

Out of the corner of my eye, I noted Hau and Gladion in the distance. I had never actually seen them side-by-side, at least not that close, and the sheer difference in bulk between the two of them was laughable to say the least. To my surprise, Hau soon pulled Gladion into an embrace, and even crazier, _Gladion didn’t resist_.

Well, now all that was left was for the Grumpigs to fly.

Not wanting to interrupt their moment, I turned to follow Phera onto the boat. Casually, I flipped open the book to the table of contents. It was fairly dry, complex and boring. There was a section on the King of Alola that Mum had mentioned previously.

And then I stopped.

All at once, the words began to shift and move on the page. Slow at first, then quicker and quicker. Soon the words broke apart and letters began moving by themselves. My head was screaming for me to look away, but I was mesmerized.

My vision cut to black as my head hit the pavement.


	33. thirty-one: the revenant

_and if you took to me like  
_ _well, i'd've danced like the queen of the eyesores  
_ _and the rest of our lives would've fared well_

 

“…So that’s the deal.”

I rocked gently on my bunk, subtle hum of the engine barely audible, legs crossed with the book in my lap. We had approximately one evening until we arrived at the black sand beach, and I was trying to get a start on reading this book. Meanwhile, my team was out and roaming my room as I explained the situation with Pheromosa to them.

I was still unsure what had happened when I first opened the book - a vision of some kind? The details were foggy, but I feel like they were important. Either way, I awoke a few minutes later to Hau desperately shaking me, no worse for wear beyond a few bruises here and there. At first, I figured Phera had something to do with it, but she seemed oblivious. Not that I trusted a word of what she said.

“…What the hell have you gotten us into?” replied Gabrielle, voice weighed down by exasperation. “So we just have one of those _things_ that killed our friends - and Luso - hanging around? And you trust her?”

“Of course not,” I said, fidgeting with my sock, “but we don’t have much of an option otherwise.” I sighed, scratching my forehead. “For one, she was on the money about the Po Town dilemma, and secondly, it’s a delicate situation, and turning her down didn’t seem like the best option.”

“If you say so,” she clucked, looking away from me.

“Kaia,” Lani’s voice was hoarse, “that thing she wants released - it killed Sage, Varia… Ranger.” With each name, she got a little more choked up, “we can’t let it go. The body count… it’ll just get larger.”

“Would your mom even agree to let it go?” Soren spoke up, giving Lani a sympathetic look. “It’s not like you can tell her why it needs to be let go, not without giving up your secrecy deal with Phera.”

“Not to mention you risk giving away its location,” said Uriah, slumped over next to the bed, “thus losing your only leverage.”

I sighed again, closing the book and placing it next to me. “Look, I know it’s not a concrete plan. But it’s the only one we have right now. We’re on a severe time crunch and there’s no easy option, as much as I wish there was. We don’t even know how strong she is, if we decided we wanted to overpower her, and if we did that, we’d lose our way into Po Town.” I rubbed my face. “If anyone has any other ideas, please, let me know, but for now, this is the plan Gladion and I are going to stick to.”

“But-” Lani exclaimed, only to stop when I held up a hand.

“I know. It sucks. The three of them deserve vengeance, and so do the hundreds of people who lost their lives to the Heahea attacks.” Feet touching the cold floor, I knelt down and wrapped Lani in a hug. After a moment, I looked up, wiping the tears from her eyes. “Hey, hey, it’s okay. We’ll figure something out, alright?”

“Alright.”

Standing up again, I winced as the muscles in my back screamed at me. Stupid fucking fainting spells. Still, I gave them a quick stretch, turning to look at each of the team again. Only Lani was left from the original team that left Melemele with me… was that really only a month and a bit ago? Tears began to well up in my eyes.

“Kaia?” Soren’s voice was concerned.

“I’m fine.” Sniffling as I wiped the tears away, I turned to Lilac. “Hey, Lilac, you’re pretty good at hiding, right?”

“Sure!” Her peppy response broke the somber atmosphere. “What of it?”

“Would you be willing to watch Phera for me?” My hands formed a pleading gesture. “Just to make sure she doesn’t do anything to Hau or Indigo while they’re unaware of her true form.”

“Hmm… I dunno, what’s in it for me?”

I sighed, hand pressing to my forehead. “Uhhh, I dunno, what do you want?”

“I want your bracelet,” she replied cheerfully. I sat back, shocked, while her ethereal body formed an eerie smile.

“What? Why?” Instinctively, I pulled it close to my chest, twiddling with it.

“Sentimentality. It has a lot of emotional value to you,” she stated matter-of-factly, “I want it.”

“Not for sale.”

Moaning, she looked up towards the roof. “Laaaame.” Taking a look around the room, she seemed intrigued by my open backpack. Hovering over there, she peeked inside, letting loose a little giggle. “Oooh, how about this bottle of sunscreen?”

“What?”

She hovered the bottle of sunscreen closer to me. “A gift from a family member, no?”

“Uh… sure.” It wasn’t like I had used any of it anyway.

“Yay!” A chill passed through me as Lilac quickly flew around the room. “Anyway, I’ll go keep an eye on her or whatever. See ya!”

And with that, she was gone.

“…I will never understand that one,” said Gabrielle, after a moment of silence.

“Me neither,” replied Uriah, his voice a low groan.

I chuckled, walking over to prop open the door again before sitting back down on my bunk. “Anyway, that’s all I needed from you guys. Feel free to wander the boat of whatever, not that we have much room.”

“Kaia, do you mind if I go back in my pokeball?” Lani asked, eyes still red. “I need some time to process this.”

“Of course,” I replied, retrieving her pokeball and withdrawing her. “Anyone else?”

Uriah shook his head, grumbling something about taking a walk before shuffling out of the open door. Soren followed him, stopping at the door to look back at Gabrielle. As the bird fluttered off the bed, I cleared my throat.

“Actually, Gabrielle, would you mind sticking behind for a minute?” I scratched my head, painfully aware of the awkwardness in my voice. “Need to talk about something.”

“Uh… sure?” She turned to face Soren. “Go on, I’ll catch up with you in a bit.” He nodded, shuffling out the door, leaving me and the oricorio alone in the room together. With a sigh, she fluttered back to the bed, staring up at me. After a few moments of silence, she tilted her head, eyes piercing. “Well?”

“Right, sorry.” Reaching into my bag, I pulled out a small golden amulet, incrusted with multiple colours. Nanu’s gift to me. “I just wanted to ask… how the pokeball is feeling?”

She sighed, shuffling back and forth. “I… don’t like it.” Seeing the worry on my face, she squawked, elaborating, “it’s just taking some getting used to… is all.”

I crossed my legs again. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, I agreed to it and it was what needed to happen in the moment.”

We sat in uncomfortable silence for a minute or two, as I idly played with my hair. The rock of the sea was rhythmic, lulling me into a sort of calm state. Eventually, Gabrielle hopped up onto my leg, prodding me with a talon.

“What’s this really about?”

I shrugged, collecting the necklace from beside me. “I was talking to Nanu, and he told me that oricorio transformations can be… painful. And I realized that I never really asked why you changed into your new form?”

She took a good long look at me, before clucking her tongue. “I dunno, it kinda just happened.”

“Gabrielle.”

“What?” Her voice grew louder, more shrill. “What do you want me to say?”

I crossed my arms. “Nothing that you don’t want to say,” I prefaced, “but I wouldn’t mind the truth.”

“Seriously, it just happened!” She was now growing extremely frustrated, her claws digging into my skin. “Get off my back!”

“Gab—”

“I was sad, okay! Arceus forbid Gabrielle actually has feelings.” Stunned, I went silent. She looked down, prodding at the bloody scratches she had left on my leg. We sat like that for a few moments longer, before she continued. “Oricorio have a tendency to show the form that represents our current disposition. And I’ve never really given a shit about anything. And then, when I was talking to Anabel about things during our meet-up and she prodded me with questions about the funeral and… I guess it just got to me, alright?”

Carefully, I rested my hand on her back, rubbing lightly. “Got to you?”

“That they’re gone, I guess?” She replied, before letting loose a groan. “God, I sound like such a wimp. Like how you sound every day.”

“Gabrielle, I’m trying to be supportive.”

“Right, sorry,” she said, looking away from me again. “That I’d never argue with Luso again, or get advice from Iro, or talk about boy stuff with Keyki.”

I barely suppressed a chuckle, despite the tone of the conversation. “You did that?”

“Kaia, I’m trying to open up.”

“Right, sorry.”

“So… yeah, it kinda just hit me. And then I woke up one morning and was just… like this.” She finished, fluttering awkwardly on my knee.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that was…” Arceus, this was so awkward, “something you were dealing with.”

“It’s fine.” Her eyes darted away again, as though she was scared of what I would see in them. “I should have told you, I guess.”

“We’re all healing, Gabrielle. But it’s easier if we do it together.” We sat in an uncomfortable silence for a moment, neither wanting to continue the conversation but neither wanting to be the one to break it off. Eventually, I coughed. “Anyway, the thing I wanted to say was… that Nanu gave me this.” I extended my hand, revealing the necklace. “Apparently it can help you shift back to your old form, if that’s something you want.”

She looked it over for a moment, tapping it gently with her beak, before recoiling. “Thanks, but… I think I’ll stick with what I have for right now. It… feels kinda good, connecting with my emotions and junk.”

“Plus,” I grinned, “Soren seems to appreciate sensitive Gabrielle.”

“…I hate you.”

[hr]

As the sun dipped under the horizon, I found myself in the bridge alongside Gladion. He and Indigo were the only ones capable of driving, and if we wanted to make it there as soon as possible, we’d need to be driving all night, so she and him would be swapping out partway through, and I figured the least I could do is give him a little company and keep him awake.

Of course, company might be a strong word for it. It was more… mutual silence.

But after an hour silence, accompanied only by the flipping of my book and the bounce of the boat, Gladion spoke. “…I’m scared, Kaia.”

“Hm?” I turned my flashlight away from the book, looking towards him.

“I feel like everything is slipping through my fingers. Lillie getting captured, Mother finding a way to summon ultra beasts…” His eyes didn’t move from the horizon ahead, but his voice wavered. “I feel like we’re on the precipice of losing.”

Why was he telling me this? “Even if she has Lillie, she still needs my bracelet to complete her plans or whatever, right?” I flipped the page of my book. “She’s missing part of the puzzle still.”

“Do we know that, though?” He turned to face me, finally, and I could see the worry etched into his face. “Maybe she only needs one or the other.”

“She needs both,” a voice spoke up, and I flinched as a blonde-haired girl materialized right next to me. Seeing my surprise, Phera let loose a grin. “What, you think I can disguise myself at will but I can’t turn invisible? Please.” Moving on without giving me a chance to respond, she said, “The cosmog, although in a different form, is required to form a rift. The bracelet is required to open said tear. The bracelet is technically more valuable than the cosmog, in that she’d be able to open already-existing rifts, but the cosmog is required to create a rift that goes to a precise location.”

“How… do you know this?” I asked, fist clenched on a page. “Why are you telling us this? What does it give you?”

She laughed, her voice mimicking that of her natural form. “Consider it a gift. I’m not too big a fan of Mrs. Moreau, so any chance you children have of defeating her is… how do you say, a win-win?”

“So, Mother’s experiments…”

“Trying to find a way to force a cosmog into its prime state. It cannot open a permanent rift this way.”

The three of sat in silence, until Phera yawned, standing from her seat. “Ah well, this has been fun. I don’t technically need to sleep but it must be more interesting that watching the two of you do absolutely nothing.”

“Why were you even in here anyway?” I grumbled, pulling the book closer to my chest.

“Eh, I thought you two were gonna do something fun and it beats watching your friend cry himself to sleep.” She chuckled, opening the door to the outer deck. “Don’t be too rowdy without me, you two.” With that, the door clicked shut, leaving the two of us alone.

“…So she can turn invisible,” Gladion muttered, turning to face the horizon again. “Great.”

“As though she wasn’t menacing enough already,” I agreed, picking my flashlight back on. “She’s so… casual. She doesn’t consider us a threat at all.”

“What measure is an ant to a god?” he responded, tense. Seeing me turning back to my book and trying to change the subject, he asked, “So… anything useful in that book of course?”

I shook my head. “I’m not sure how it’s relevant. There’s a lot of talk about these two ancient heroes, Selia and Leander, but…” I thought back to my vision. “I dunno, it doesn’t seem useful.”

“So you’ve learned nothing, then?” He didn’t sound frustrated, just disappointed. I was too.

I closed the book. “…Okay, I’m gonna say something weird, but I need you to trust me.”

“Kaia, we just finished a conversation with an alien who found entertainment in watching us do nothing for an hour while invisible.” He chuckled, a strained noise that wasn’t like him at all, “I don’t know if it can get any weirder.”

“Well… when I fainted the other day, I had a vision.” It sounded absolutely insane when I said it, but there was no turning back now. “It was like… I _became_ someone else for a bit. I was on a mountaintop, and there were two other people there, including a blind girl. And according to this, Selia was blind.”

He mumbled something to himself. “Maybe you just dreamt it based off what you read?”

I shook my head. “I hadn’t even started reading yet.”

“So you think you were experiencing something from those days?” His voice was skeptical, but tolerant. “But, there was three people, including yourself? So why does the book only mention two?”

“That’s what has me stumped.”

Silence, again. It was a welcome embrace. After a few minutes, Gladion checked his watch. “It’s getting late, Kaia. Maybe you should go get some sleep. We have a long hike tomorrow.” I frowned. It felt like I was a child being sent to bed. But I wasn’t about to argue.

“Okay. Try not to fall asleep, alright?”

“Don’t worry,” His voice grew distant, “I’ve stayed up longer than this before.”

As I approached the door, I stopped. “Oh, Gladion. You and Hau looked like you were getting along better,” I grinned at the thought of Hau’s bewear hug, “Anything interesting happen?”

“Oh.” He scratched his head. “Yeah, I just mentioned that… I was thankful for him doing his best to protect Lillie.”

“Aw, did you give him your blessing?” I laughed. It felt good to laugh.

“Something like that.”

Shaking my head, I clicked the door open. “You’re a real softie, Gladion.”

“Yeah yeah, whatever.”

[hr]

As I walked back to the sleeping quarters, a strange sight caught my eye. Uriah was sitting on the back of the boat, staring out at the rushing water. His steel mask glittered in the moonlight, and he seemed to be in almost… a trance. I approached, making no effort to mask my steps, but if he noticed me, he didn’t make it known.

“Uriah?” I whispered, which seemed to snap him out of his daze.

“Oh! Kaia, sorry, I…" He sighed, shoulders slumping. “I got distracted.”

“I can see that. Mind if I sit?” When he shook his head, I took a seat next to him, feet going over the side and grazing the water. “What’s going on, Uriah?”

“…I died by drowning.”

I stared at him, stunned. “You… remember that? From what I read on fossils, they don’t typically remember their past lives.”

“The second time I died.”

I blinked. “I’m… not sure I understand.”

He sighed, tapping his foot on the steel. “I was first resurrected by a trainer named… well, his name isn’t really important,” I couldn’t help but get suspicious by him avoiding the topic, but let him continue, “we travelled Alola together on this trainer’s island challenge. But during his water trial… there was an accident. Me and… someone really close to me perished in an accident.”

“So…” I looked out towards the water. “You came back to life?”

“No. Not technically.”

“You’ve lost me.”

He grumbled, shuffling left and right. “I don’t fully understand it either, but for all intents and purposes, I’m dead. But because my ‘spirit’ had unfinished business, I couldn’t go to the Great Beyond. So Lilac brought me back to… well, life I suppose, to fulfill a task, and once that task is complete, I can move on.”

He stayed silent while I processed this. The Great Beyond? Spirit? What the hell had my life become? Sighing, I put my hand in my head.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner,” he mumbled, “I was still sort of processing it myself.”

“It’s understandable,” I replied, rubbing the spine of the book in my hands, “and if I hadn’t had the most absolutely insane day, I dunno if I would believe you.” I rested a hand on his mask. “But I do.” He smiled. “But I have to ask… what’s the task you have to complete?”

“Well,” he chuckled, looking away. “It’s to help you.”

“What?”

“There was a moment… I heard you ask for aid. And so my job is to help you.”

I blinked again. “Why me, though? Aren’t there a billion people who need help at any given time? Sounds like you got kind of a rough deal.”

He shook his head “There is a reason that Lilac chose you, but… I can’t really explain it yet. I’m sorry. When I can, I will.”

I nodded. “I can respect that. Thank you for not lying, at least.” I sighed, leaning back on my hands. “ And so all you need to do is help me? Seems kinda vague, does it not?”

Laughing, he shrugged. “Trust me, I have the same frustration. But Lilac won’t elaborate, so I suppose I’m just along for the ride until she decides that my time is up.”

“So, Lilac is the one that did this to you, then?”

“So she tells me. She’s like…” He joined me in staring at the water again. “A ghostly janitor for unsettled souls.”

I shuffled, sitting back up. “And when this task is done, you’ll… die? Don’t you want to put it off as long as possible, then?” My voice wavered slightly.

He looked at me, and I could see the weariness in his eyes. “I’m tired, Kaia. I’ve lived two full lifetimes, and I’m ready to move on from this. There’s no reason to fear death. I choose to embrace it willingly.”

I suppose that’s one way of looking at it.

[Hr]

The next morning, we all woke up at the crack of dawn to prepare for the day. Gladion and Indigo swapped positions at 2am and 7am, which meant Indigo was just in the process of stepping down from her post when Phera, Hau ad I emerged from the den.

Sleep had been rough. I woke up in the middle of the night, only to find that Phera hadn’t been lying about her promise of not sleeping, as she stared at Indigo and I while we slept. So that made it a little hard to return back to sleep.

Either way, as Indigo made coffee for the day, claiming to be ‘too tired to sleep’, I opened up the book again, beginning to read once more. We had approximately three hours until we arrived at the black sand beach, which meant I could finish at least one more section. Indigo decided to turn on the radio while Hau cooked breakfast, an innocent enough decision at the time.

It was around an hour in when a familiar voice returned to the radio. “…have Lusamine Steele with us to discuss the recent attack on Malie City.”

“Oh listen, if it isn’t my favourite reporter,” I grumbled, flipping a page. I sat up, mimicking the hostess’ squeaky, faux high-pitched voice, “Hello, I’m Helena Monterey, and you’re listening to ATV, the _best_ news station this side of Kanto.” Annoying as fuck.

“Welcome, Miss Steele, I’m Helena Monterey, and this is ATV, the _best_ news station this side of Kanto.” I knew that listening would only frustrate me, but I couldn’t stop. Indigo went to turn it off but I waved her off. “Miss Steele, what are your thoughts on this most recent attack?”

“Well, it’s a tragedy, Helena,” the woman replied, and my blood ran cold. “Especially so soon after the one in Heahea.” I felt the incredible urge to punch Lusamine in her fucking face. “Fortunately, I have sent Aether to aid in the recovery efforts.”

“Wow, what a woman. Let’s give her a hand, hey folks?” This was followed by several rounds of applause from the audience. “Now, Miss Steele, do you believe that the same culprit responsible for the Heahea tragedy is responsible for this one, too?”

“I think that’s obvious, Helena. Kaia Stirling and her gang of terrorists are obviously at it again.” Several boos echoed from the speaker. “First Heahea, then Aether, and now Malie? She was spotted in all three locations, within hours of each attack. That can’t be a coincidence, Helena.”

“I agree completely, Miss Steele. Remember folks, if you see Kaia Stirling or any of her cohorts, please ensure to contact the authorities immediately, and do not engage! She is dangerous and possibly—” My hand flicked off the radio involuntarily.

Looking up, I made eye contact with Indigo. “I’ll be back in a minute,” I said, gripping the radio so tight, my knuckles grew white.

“Kaia—” Hau started, but I held up a hand to him, turning and walking away.

Dragging the radio with me down underneath the deck.

Faced the blank, steel wall at the end of the lower hallway.

Flicked the radio back on.

“..tirling, if you’re out there, stop what you’re doing. You are a menace to society, and must be stopped.”

Cheers.

Arm moved.

Slammed the radio against the wall.

“I’m doing my fucking best!” Screaming, unable to stop the tears from pouring out of my eyes.

Again.

“I’m trying to save you all, and this is the thanks I get?”

Again.

“Why me? Why the fuck did I have to be the one to get this fucking bracelet?”

Again.

“Why did I have to be the one who can speak to her goddamn pokemon?”

Soon, on the ground, slamming it over and over, long after the voices had fizzled out.

And then, still.

“Why did Dad… leave me alone like this…”

As my tears slowly ceased, partially thanks to me wiping my face non-stop, I took several deep breaths, trying to stop the hiccupping from my gross sobbing. As I did, my eyes focused on the destroyed radio. Peaking out of the wreckage was a small, inconspicuous grey object. I picked it up, giving my face one last wipe, and examined it. It wasn’t in perfect condition, thanks to my outburst, but it looked like… a microphone?

“Kaia?” Indigo’s voice echoed from the end of the hallway, and I hear her begin to step down the steel stairs. Quickly, I shoved the object in my pocket, standing up and sniffling one last time. The girl with the pink highlights approached. “Are you okay?”

I nodded. “Yeah.” My throat was hoarse.

Her eyes looked to the ground, where the wreckage of the radio remained, before making eye contact with me. Her eyes scanned mine, until she saw something, I guess, because after a moment, she stepped forward. We were standing very close now, and it only made our difference in height all the more apparent.

“Kaia…” Her voice was soft. “It’s okay. I’m here if you even need to talk, you know.” She took another step forward, causing me to take one back, my back landing against the wall. “So make use of me.” In the back of my mind, I was aware of how close we were.

She smelled of lavender.

“What do you mean?” I asked, heart beating heavier in my chest. I reached my hand out to casually push her away, surely this had to be some kind of joke, but she caught it midway through. Her look was intense, and for a moment, I thought I had pissed her off somehow.

And then she kissed me.

It was a flurry of feelings and smells and confusion - she tasted of milk and honey - ones I hadn’t experienced since Daisy, and it was over in an instant. She leaned back up, and as though coming out from a trance, she shook her head.

“Oh Arceus, Kaia, I’m so sorry!” She exclaimed, shaking her head. “I dunno what came over me, I’m… I’m just gonna go.” Part of me felt like I should call out to her, tell her to come back, but I was still in a daze. As she rushed away, her feet clinking up the metal stairs, I leaned back against the wall again, slumping down on the floor.

What was that? It had come out of absolutely nowhere. I didn’t even realize Indigo liked girls, let alone… me. Did I like her back? It was a tough question. I barely even knew her! Daisy and I were best friends for years before… My head was swirling with confusing thoughts and emotions, and I sat there for what felt like an eternity, dazed.

“Huh. Didn’t realize you swung that way, Miss Stirling.” Phera’s voice snapped me out of it, as she appeared in the corner of the small storage room. “Must say, the two of you put on quite a show.”

I flinched back. “How… how long have you been there!?”

“Oh, right about… the middle of you going ballistic?” She replied, chuckling to herself. “I don’t mean to spy, you know, but I wanted to make sure my only asset wasn’t going insane.”

Spy. Like the light returned to my brain, I pulled the object from the radio out from pocket. “Is this yours?” I whispered, my gaze darkening.

She squinted, staring at it. “I don’t even know that that is, miss.”

“It’s a bug,” I said, shaking it at her pointedly. While I wasn’t 100% sure that’s what it was, the signs pointed to it, and I was a little on edge at the moment. “It’s used to spy on people’s conversations. Did you plant it?”

She stared at me. “Did you lose all your brain cells? Why would I need human technology to spy on you when I can just do it myself?”

…That was a good point.

“But if you didn’t plant it…” I muttered, staring down at the little microphone. “Who did?”


End file.
